ORGANIC COMPOUND

Friedrich Wohler - German chemist in 1828 that synthesized urea from inorganic starting materials. He
reacted silver cyanate (AgOCN) and ammonium chloride (NH4Cl), expecting to get ammonium cyanate
(NH4OCN). But instead, he found the product to be urea (NH2CONH2), which is a well-known organic
material readily isolated from urine.

Organic Chemistry

- Is a branch of chemistry dealing with carbon-containing compounds and is also the study of carbon-
containing molecules known as organic compounds. This can be isolated and purified from the plants
and animals. They can also be prepared in the laboratory.

Carbon

- Element in the periodic table that is represented by the symbol C and has an atomic number of 6.

- Carbon completes its octet by sharing electrons and not by forming ions. It shares its electrons with
other carbon atoms forming single, double, and triple bonds.

- It can form four covalent bonds. This allows it to form chains (straight, branched or cyclic) or in general
is in endless arrays.

Where do carbons found?

- Although carbon occurs in elemental forms, most of it is found in combined forms. It is found in
carbonates, coal, and other fossil fuels, and in living organisms.

- Carbon can form millions of different compounds. To date this, over 20 million organic compounds,
both synthetic and natural, are known compared with only about 100,000 inorganic compounds. Carbon
can form more compounds than any other element in the periodic table.
Three Crystalline Forms of Carbon and It’s Characteristics

1. Graphite
- Soft
- Black
- Slippery solid that possesses metallic luster and conducts electricity.
- D = 2.25 g/cm³
2. Diamond
- Clear
- Hard solid (10 in the Mohs scale)
- Denser than graphite (d = 3.51 g/cm ³)
- Industrial diamond is produced mainly for use in cutting, grinding and polishing tools.
3. Fullerenes
- Molecular forms of carbon
- These molecules are in the form of C60, resembling soccer balls (also called
buckminsterfullerene or buckyball) and C70 (Nanotubes)

Amorphous Forms of Carbon

Carbon black – formed when hydrocarbons such as methane are burnt in the atmosphere containing
very little oxygen. 

Charcoal – is produced when wood is heated intensely in the absence of air. 

Coke – is an impure form of carbon formed when coal is strongly heated in the absence of air. It is good
reducing agent in metallurgical processes.

Carbon Nanofoam

- Discovered in 1997 by Andrei V. Rode and co-workers at the Australian National University
in Canberra
- New allotrope of carbon
- Spongy solid
- Lightweight
- Unusually attracted to magnets

Why are organic compound important? - Although organic compounds make up only a small
percentage of Earth's crust, they are of central importance because all known life is based on organic
compounds. All living organisms contains carbon. They are the basic components of many of the cycles
that drive the earth. For example, the carbon cycle that includes the exchange of carbon between plants
and animals in photosynthesis and cellular respiration.
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS: HYDROCARBON
Hydrocarbons

- The simplest organic compounds which contain only the elements carbon and hydrogen
- Carbon-containing organic compounds that provide a source of energy and raw materials
- The size of hydrocarbon molecules influences their properties, including their melting and
boiling points.

Methane

- The simplest hydrocarbon molecule CH₄, consist of a carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen
atoms.
- Excellent fuel and is the main component of natural gas.

Saturated Hydrocarbon - A hydrocarbon having only single bonds. They are the simplest class of
hydrocarbons. They are called saturated because each carbon atom is bonded to as many hydrogen
atoms as possible.

Unsaturated Hydrocarbon - A hydrocarbon that has at least one double or triple bond between carbon
atoms. These molecules will therefore have fewer hydrogen atoms than the maximum the carbon chain
could possibly hold (if all bonds were single bonds).