1 ­ Intro to Organic

Organic Chemistry
Organic chemistry is a major branch of chemistry that deals with
compounds of carbon.

Historical Reference:
• Organic chemistry was once confined to compounds produced by living organisms.
• We now extend our definition to include man made substances such as plastics,
polyesters, bucky balls, graphene, etc.
• Carbons are almost always bonded to each other, to hydrogen and sometimes a few other elements
such as:

halogens oxygen nitrogen sulfur

Inorganic Exceptions

carbonates cyanides
(CO3 2­ (aq) ) (CN­(aq) )

carbides
oxides of carbon (SiC)
(CO2(g) , CO(g) )

• There are millions of organic compounds

• They are all covalently bonded.
Reading Assignment: Text p. 358 ­ 365

Did you know?

There are around 100,000 Inorganic Compounds, and tens of
millions of Organic Compounds (increasing by 300,000 per year).

Why are there so many more organic molecules vs inorganic ones?

i) Carbon atoms can bond together to form chains. The number of carbon atoms in a
chain varies enormously. This is called polymerization.
ii) The bonds between the carbons are covalent C C C
• each carbon atom must share 4 bonds.
• The bonds between the carbon atoms may be single, double, or triple.
iii) It is possible for the same number of atoms of carbon to form more than one different
structure – the structures could have the same chemical formula, but different structures.
• This is called isomerism.
Structural Isomers
Structural Isomers are compounds with the same molecular formula with a different structure.
Things to Consider:
• A straight chain is any carbons in a "row" such as: H H
H
H H H H C C H
H C H
is the is the H
H C C C H
same as H C H same as
H H H H C H H C H

H H

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1 ­ Intro to Organic

Ques 1: Draw 3 different isomers for C5 H12

Isomer #1 Isomer #2 Isomer #3
H
H H H H H H H H H H
H C
H C C C C C H H C C C C H
H H H
H H H H H H H
H C C C H
H C H
H H
H
H C H
H
Notes:
• Different structures result in different properties
• The arrangement of atoms will determine the different intermolecular attractions which will
therefore influence properties such as boiling point or solubility in water.

Case Study: One isomer of C3 H8 O has a boiling point of 7.4o C where as another isomer has a
boiling point of 82.5o C? How can this be?

Boiling Point = 82.5oC Boiling point = 7.4o C

Explanation: The isomer on the left has hydrogen bonding within the molecule which requires
more energy to break the bonds therefore giving the molecule a higher boiling point.

Classification of Hydrocarbons
Hydrocarbons

Aliphatics

Alkanes

Alkenes

Alkynes

Alicyclics

Aromatics

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1 ­ Intro to Organic

Chemistry 20 Review Points:

1) polar bonds are caused by an uneven pull of e­
e­
δ+ δ ­
H ­ Cl
e­ will be pulled towards the N
2) polar compounds are formed when

:
H causing a polar molecule
NH
the polar bonds within the molecule H
DO NOT cancel out

:
e­ will spend most of their time around the oxygen

:
H
OH
3) "Like Dissolves Like"
• The presence of hydrogen bonds or dipole­dipole bonds wouldallow a substance to
dissolve in water (water is a polar substance)
• Non polar substances only have LD forces and will not dissolve in water

Drawing Organic Molecules

Molecules can be drawn in 3 different ways:
1) Complete Structural Diagram ­ Show all bonds
Ex. C3H8 Ex. C3 H7 F

2) Condensed Structural Diagram ­ shows carbon­carbon bonds but shows the hydrogens
attached to the carbons
Ex. C3H8 Ex. C3 H7 F
F

Ex. C5H12 Ex. C5 H11 F

CH3 − CH2 – CH2 – CH2 – CH3 CH3 − CH2 – CH2 – CHF – CH3

or or

CH3 − (CH2)3 − CH3 CH3 − (CH2)2 − CHF − CH3

3) Line Structural Diagram
• shows only carbon to carbon bonds without letter representation of the carbons
• a carbon is represented by a "bend" in the line

Ex. C3H4 Ex. C3 H7 F Ex. C4H8

Nomenclature ­ The Basics

Prefixes
1. Number of Functional Groups 2. Number of carbons within the functional group
1 = mono 6 = hexa 1 = meth 6 = hex
2 = di 7 = hepta 2 = eth 7 = hept
3 = tri 8 = octa 3 = prop 8 = oct
4 = tetra 9 = nona 4 = but 9 = non
5 = penta 10 = deca 5 = pent 10 = dec