CARBON AND

ITS

COMPOUNDS
B Y HU S A I N A B B A S ZA I D I ( P A D HA I A K M A Z ZA Y T )
 SYLLABUS
: Chemical Substances - Nature and Behaviour Chapter – 4 Carbon and
its compounds Carbon compounds: Covalent bonding in carbon
compounds. Versatile nature of carbon. Homologous series.
LET’S ROCK
Introduction
All the substances that surround us have carbon components within them. All living and
non-living components in the environment are carbon based.

Human body contains 18% of carbon and act as the basic building block of the cells
present in human body. It is necessary for the cellular respiration of the various parts of
human body.

Carbon is basically an element and is of extensive importance and significance, both in

its elemental form and in its combined form for the survival on earth. 0.02% of carbon is
present in the earth’s crust in the form of carbonates, hydrogen carbonates, coal,
petroleum and other minerals whereas 0.03% of carbon is present in the atmosphere.
 Covalent bond in carbon
o The elements having less than 8 electrons in their outermost shell always have
a tendency to attain an octet in order to attain a noble gas configuration by
gaining or losing electron forming ionic compounds.
o In case of carbon with atomic number 6 there are four electrons in its
outermost shell due to which it is termed as tetravalent.

o It gains or loses four electrons to attain the nearest noble gas configuration.
o Carbon has two possibilities to attain noble gas configuration.

(I) One of the possibilities is to attain four electrons and form C4– anion. But it will be
difficult for the nucleus to hold four more electrons firmly.
(ii) Another possibility is to lose four electrons forming C4+ cation. But this will also be
difficult due to the requirement of large energy to lose four electrons from the outermost
shell. As a result, the atom will contain six protons and two electrons.
o Therefore, carbon shares its valence electrons present in its outermost shell
with the electrons in the outermost shell of the combining atoms of other
elements.
o Due to this sharing of four electrons of carbon with the electrons of other
combining atoms, carbon is said to form covalent bonds. For example, carbon
shares these electrons with four atoms of hydrogen.

Fig. Sharing of electron between carbon and hydrogen

o The carbon-carbon bond is very strong and hence stable.
 o Compounds possessing covalent bonds have strong bonds within the
molecule, but intermolecular forces are small leading to low melting and
boiling points of these compounds.
o Due to the sharing of electrons no charged particles are formed i.e. no ions are
formed due to which covalent compounds are poor conductors of electricity.
o FOR Example

Bonding in Hydrogen:
The atomic number of hydrogen is 1 and has only one electron in its K shell.

This shell needs to either acquire or lose an electron to attain noble gas configuration of
helium.

Due to this reason two hydrogen atoms share their outermost electrons leading to the
formation of a molecule of hydrogen, H2.

The shared pair of electrons between the hydrogen atoms constitutes a single bond
between them and is also represented by a line between the two atoms

. Bonding in Oxygen:
The atomic number of oxygen is 8 and has six electrons in its L shell.

This shell needs to either acquire or lose electrons two electrons to attain noble gas
configuration of Neon.

So each atom of oxygen shares two electrons with other atom of oxygen to attain the
nearest noble gas configuration.

The shared pair of electrons between the oxygen atoms constitutes a double bond
between them and is also represented by two parallel lines between the two atoms as
shown in figure and exists as O2 molecule.
 Bonding in Nitrogen:
Nitrogen has the atomic number 7 and has five electrons in its outermost shell.

This shell needs to either acquire or lose electrons three electrons to attain noble gas
configuration of Neon.

So each atom of nitrogen shares three electrons with other atom of nitrogen to attain
the nearest noble gas configuration.

The shared pair of electrons between the nitrogen atoms constitutes a triple bond
between them and is also represented by three parallel lines between the two atoms as
shown in figure and exists as N2 molecule.

Versatile nature of carbon

The versatile nature of carbon due to the presence of covalent bond enables it to form a
large number of compounds.

(i) Carbon due to its property of catenation possesses a unique ability to form bonds
with other atoms of carbon, giving rise to large number of molecules and compounds
having long chains of carbon, branched chains of carbon or carbon atoms arranged in
rings and linked by single, double or triple bonds.

Fig. Carbon forming single, double and triple bonds with each other
(ii) Carbon being tetravalent is capable of bonding with four other atoms of carbon or
any other combining mono-valent element.

(iii) Carbon forms compounds with oxygen (Carbon-dioxide), hydrogen (Methane),

nitrogen (Hydrogen cyanide), sulphur, chlorine (Chloromethane) and many other
elements giving rise to compounds with specific properties depending upon the
elements present in the compound.
(iv) The compounds formed are stable due to their strong bonds as a result of its small
size which enables the nucleus to hold the shared pair of electrons firmly.
Saturated Carbon Compounds
o Compounds formed by the linking of carbon by single bonds in between them
are called saturated compounds.
o These compounds have hydrogen atoms that fill all of the other bonding
orbitals of the carbon atoms.
o For example, Alkanes are saturated compounds. It is a series of saturated
compounds.
o Methane with a formula CH4 is one of the simplest compounds formed by
carbon.
o The valency of hydrogen is 1 and that of carbon is 4.

o So, 4 carbon atoms share their outermost electrons with four individual hydrogen
atoms by a single bond.
o This saturated compound is
extensively used as a fuel and
is one of the significant
constituents of bio-gas and
Compressed Natural Gas
(CNG).
Unsaturated Carbon Compounds
o Compounds formed by the linking of carbon by double or triple bonds in between them
are called unsaturated compounds.
o For example, Ethene (C2H4) is an alkene in which one carbon atom gets
bonded to another carbon atom by a double bond. The remaining valences
of each carbon are satisfied by two hydrogen atoms.

o Ethyne (C2H2) is an alkyne in which one carbon atom gets bonded to another carbon
atom by a double or triple bond. The remaining valency of each carbon is satisfied by
one hydrogen atom.

o These compounds are more reactive than the saturated carbon compounds.

HYDROCARBON
o All carbon compounds having carbon and hydrogen are known as
hydrocarbons.
o The saturated hydrocarbons having single bonds are called alkanes. For
example, Methane, Ethane etc. The general formula for alkanes can be written
as CnH2n+1, where n = 2, 3, 4.
o The unsaturated hydrocarbons having one or more double bonds are called
alkenes. For example, Ethene, Propene, Butene, etc. The general formula for
alkenes can be written as CnH2n, where n = 2, 3, 4.

o The unsaturated hydrocarbons having one or more triple bonds are called
alkynes. For example, Ethyne, Propyne etc. The general formula for alkynes can
be written as CnH2n-1, where n = 2, 3, 4.

HOMOLOGOUS SERIES
o A series of carbon compounds in which same functional group substitutes the
hydrogen atom is called a homologous series.
o These compounds have similar chemical properties due to the addition of
same kind of functional group throughout the chain.
o For example, the series of alkanes i.e., Methane, ethane, propane, butane and
so on is a homologous series.
 o Similarly, the series of alkene and alkynes also forms homologous series.
Homologous series of alkenes are as follows:

Homologous series of alkynes are as follows:

o The series like methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol and so on is also a

homologous series. The functional group attached to these compounds is
alcohol.

o With the increase in molecular mass in a homologous series the physical

properties like melting points, boiling points and solubility in a particular
solvent increases.
o But the chemical properties of a homologous series determined by the
functional group remain same.
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