GENERAL CHEMISTRY (ORGANIC)

Vanessa Aubrey V. Delara

2A7-Golf
Sir. George Delos Angeles
Research:

Carbon is a very important element in chemistry and biology because it can easily form bonds with other elements, which means
it's often used to make molecules like proteins and DNA.

Another interesting thing about carbon is that it can exist in different forms, including diamonds and graphite. Finally, carbon
has a special ability called "catenation," which allows it to bond with itself and create long chains of atoms. This property helps
create complex organic molecules necessary for life.

Unique Properties of Carbon Atom

 Carbon has the ability to form very long chains of interconnecting C-C bonds.This property is called catenation.
 Carbon - carbon bonds are strong, and stable.This property allows carbon to form an almost infinite number of
compounds ; in fact, there are more known carbon-containing compounds than all the compounds of the other chemical
elements combined except those of hydrogen(because almost all organic compounds contain hydrogen too).
 The simplest form of an organic molecule is the hydrocarbon- a large family of organic molecules that are composed of
hydrogen atoms bonded to a chain of carbon atoms.

Tetravalency

 One of the characteristic features of carbon is tetravalency.

 Carbon's tetravalent nature allows it to form a large variety of compounds.
 The electronic configuration of carbon is
 .
 The number of valence electrons in the outermost shell of carbon is 4.
 To attain noble gas configuration carbon makes four bonds with carbon. So, the valency of carbon is four.
 ''Since carbon has a valency of four, it has the ability to bond with four other carbon atoms or atoms of some other mono-
valent element.'

Isomerism
Many elements can form two or more covalent bonds, but only a few are able to form extended chains of covalent bonds. The
outstanding example is carbon, which can form as many as four covalent bonds and can bond to itself indefinitely. Carbon has
six electrons in total, two of which are paired in an atomic orbital closest to the nucleus. The remaining four are farther from the
nucleus and are available for covalent bonding. When there is sufficient hydrogen present, carbon will react to form methane,
CH4. When all four electron pairs occupy the four molecular orbitals of lowest energy, the molecule assumes the shape of a
tetrahedron, with carbon at the centre and the four hydrogen atoms at the apexes. The C–H bond length is 110 picometres (1
picometre = 10-12 metre), and the angle between adjacent C–H bonds is close to 110°. Such tetrahedral symmetry is common to
many carbon compounds and results in interesting structural possibilities. If two carbon atoms are joined together, with three
hydrogen atoms bonded to each carbon atom, the molecule ethane is obtained. When four carbon atoms are joined together,
two different structures are possible: a linear structure designated n-butane and a branched structure called iso-butane. These
two structures have the same molecular formula, C4H10, but a different order of attachment of their constituent atoms. The
two molecules are termed structural isomers. Each of them has unique chemical and physical properties, and they are different
compounds. The number of possible isomers increases rapidly as the number of carbon atoms increases. There are five isomers
for C6H14, 75 for C10H22, and 6.2 × 1013 for C40H82. When carbon forms bonds to atoms other than hydrogen, such as oxygen,
nitrogen, and sulfur, the structural possibilities become even greater. It is this great potential for structural diversity that makes
carbon compounds essential to living organisms.Even when the bonding sequence of carbon compounds is fixed, further
structural variation is still possible. When two carbon atoms are joined together by two bonding pairs of electrons, a double
bond is formed. A double bond forces the two carbon atoms and attached groups into a rigid, planar structure. As a result, a
molecule such as CHCl=CHCl can exist in two nonidentical forms called geometric isomers.
 GENERAL CHEMISTRY (ORGANIC)

Vanessa Aubrey V. Delara

2A7-Golf
Sir. George Delos Angeles

Organic chemistry is the study of carbon compounds, so the study of organic chemistry is important because all living things are
based on carbon compounds. Carbon is unique in that it can form up to four bonds in a compound, so they can easily bond with
other carbon atoms, forming long chains or rings. In addition, the type of bonding in organic compounds is almost always
covalent. Organic compounds don't dissociate in solutions because there are no ionic bonds, and therefore organic compounds
are poor conductors of electricity and do not behave as electrolytes in solution. Generally, the larger and more complicated the
organic substance, the higher its boiling and melting points.

Alkanes

A large and structurally simple class of hydrocarbons includes those substances in which all the carbon-carbon bonds are single bonds. These
are called saturated hydrocarbons or alkanes. The simplest alkanes are methane (CH4),(CHX4), ethane (C2H6),(CX2HX6), and propane (C3H8).
(CX3HX8). The alkanes are also called as paraffins. In an alkane, all 44 valencies of the carbon atom are satisfied with other hydrogen atoms.

Physical Properties of Alkanes

1. The Solubility of Alkanes

 Due to very little difference of electronegativity between carbon and hydrogen and covalent nature of C-C bond
or C-H bond, alkanes are generally non-polar molecules.
 As we generally observe, polar molecules are soluble in polar solvents whereas non-polar molecules are soluble in
non-polar solvents. Hence, alkanes are hydrophobic in nature that is, alkanes are insoluble in water.
 However, they are soluble in organic solvents as the energy required to overcome the existing Van Der Waals
forces and generate new Van Der Waals forces is quite comparable.

2. The Boiling Point of Alkanes

 As the intermolecular Van Der Waals forces increase with the increase of the molecular size or the surface area of
the molecule we observe:
 The boiling point of alkanes increases with increasing molecular weight,
 The straight-chain alkanes are observed to have a higher boiling point in comparison to their structural isomers.

3. The Melting Point of Alkanes

 The melting point of alkanes follow the same trend as their boiling point that is, it increases with increase in
molecular weight.
 This is attributed to the fact that higher alkanes are solids and it’s difficult to overcome intermolecular forces of
attraction between them.
 It is generally observed that even-numbered alkanes have a higher trend in melting point in comparison to odd-
numbered alkanes as the even-numbered alkanes pack well in the solid phase, forming a well-organized structure
which is difficult to break.
Alkane Formula Chemistry - Formulas of organic compounds present information at several levels of sophistication. Molecular
formulas, such as that of octane give the number of each kind of atom in a molecule of a compound. The molecular formula of
C8H18 may apply to several alkanes, each one of which has unique chemical, physical and toxicological properties. These
different compounds are designated by structural formulas showing the order in which the atoms in a molecule are arranged.
Compounds that have the same molecular, but different structural formulas are called structural isomers.
Most organic compounds can be derived from alkanes. In addition, many important parts of organic molecules contain one or
more alkane groups, minus a hydrogen atom, bonded as substituents onto the basic organic molecule. As a consequence of
these factors, the names of many organic compounds are based on alkanes.

Alkenes are the unsaturated hydrocarbons in which there is a double bond between two carbon atoms. In these compounds,
unsaturation is due to the presence of the double bond. Alkenes have the general formula C�H2�,CXnHX2n, where �n is the
number of carbon atoms in the molecule.

General Properties of Alkenes

1. Physical state – The members containing two or four carbon atoms are gases, five to seventeen, liquids, eighteen
onwards, solids at room temperature and they burn in air with a luminous smoky flame.
2. Density – Alkenes are lighter than water.
3. Solubility – Alkenes are insoluble in water and soluble in organic solvents such as benzene etc.
4. Boiling point – The boiling points of alkenes show a gradual increase with an increase in the molecular mass or
chain length, this indicates that the intermolecular attractions become stronger with the increase in the size of
the molecule.

Classification of Alkenes

Alkyl groups bonded to the sp2 hybridised carbon atoms of alkenes affect the stability of the double bond. The chemical
reactivity of alkenes also is often affected by the number of alkyl groups bonded to the sp2 hybridised carbon atoms. Thus,
it is useful to classify alkenes by the number of alkyl groups attached to the C=C structural unit. This feature is called the
degree of substitution.An alkene that has a single alkyl group attached to the sp2 hybridised carbon atom of the double
bond is monosubstituted. An alkene whose double bond is at the end of the chain of carbon atoms is also sometimes
called a terminal alkene. Alkenes that have two, three and four alkyl groups bonded to the carbon atoms of the double
bond are disubstituted, trisubstituted and tetrasubstituted respectively.

Alkynes contain only one triple bond between two adjacent carbon atoms. But if the number of triple bonds is more than one in
any compound, the standard IUPAC nomenclature is used. They are commonly called as acetylenes.They have the general
formula C�H2�−2,CXnHX2n−2, where �n is the number of carbon atoms in the molecule.

For example, if an alkyne has 2 carbon atoms, then it would be called as ethyne with molecular formula C2H2.CX2HX2. If an
alkyne has 3 carbon atoms, then it would be propyne with formula C3H4.CX3HX.

The alkynes are unsaturated hydrocarbons that contain one triple bond, the general formula of alkynes CnH2n-2 and the
triple bond is known as the ‘acetylenic bond’. Many alkynes have been found in nature. Ethyne (C2H2) is the first member
of the alkyne family, with two carbon atoms connected by a triple bond.In organic chemistry, an alkyne is an unsaturated
hydrocarbon containing at least one carbon-carbon triple bond. Like other hydrocarbons, alkynes are generally
hydrophobic. Ethyne is more commonly known under the trivial name acetylene. It is the simplest of the alkynes,
consisting of two carbon atoms connected by a triple bond, leaving each carbon able to bond to one hydrogen atom.

Summary:
Alkanes, alkenes, and alkynes are all types of organic compounds that contain carbon and hydrogen atoms.

Alkanes have only single bonds between carbon atoms, while alkenes have at least one double bond between two carbons, and
alkynes have at least one triple bond between two carbons. These different bonding configurations give each compound unique
physical and chemical properties.
Alkanes are commonly used as fuels because they burn cleanly with high energy density. Alkenes are often used in the
production of plastics and synthetic materials due to their reactivity. Finally, alkynes can be found in a variety of industrial
applications such as welding equipment or electronic components.