Carbon and

Its
Compounds
2 N D SEPT 2023
Learning Objectives
At the end of today’s class you should be able to:
Understand the concept of bonding in carbon compounds
Define the allotropes of carbon
Get the concept of catenation and tetravalency
Understand the concept of saturated and unsaturated compounds
Understand Hydrocarbons
Introduction
Carbon is an element with atomic number 6 and an atomic
mass 12.011
Belongs to the category of non-metals or the metalloids
Carbon (C) is the second most abundant element of Earth
after Oxygen
The C on Earth is constantly recycled via the carbon cycle
Food, clothes, medicines, books, and all living beings are
carbon-based
The Earth’s crust has 0.02% carbon in the form of minerals
(carbonates, bicarbonates, coal, petroleum) and 0.03% of
carbon in atmosphere as carbon dioxide gas
Occurrence
It occurs in both combined as well as free states.
In the free state, carbon occurs in nature mainly in two
forms: diamond and graphite and Buckminster fullerene.
In the combined state, carbon occurs in nature in the
form of compounds such as :
•Carbon dioxide gas in air
•Carbonates (limestone, marble, chalk)
•Fossil fuels like coal, petroleum, and natural gas
•Organic compounds like carbohydrates, fats, proteins,
wood, cotton wool, etc.
Properties of Some
Carbon compounds
Most of the C compounds are poor conductors of heat
and electricity except Graphite
Carbon forms covalent compounds with weak forces of
interaction between them and hence exhibits low melting
and boiling points except diamond which is the hardest
substance on Earth
Bonding in Carbon
Carbon is a tetravalent as it has a valency of four
and thereby 4 electrons are present in the
outermost valence shell. In order to attain
stability it can either lose or gain 4 electrons to
complete octet (8) or duplet (2) respectively. But
these cases are not feasible as:
In the former case it becomes difficult for a
nucleus with 6 protons to hold onto 10 electrons
In the latter case a large amount of energy is
required to remove 4 electrons
To avoid such a situation carbon instead chooses
to share its valence electrons with other atoms of
carbon or other elements. This infers that C
exhibits covalent bonding in its compounds.
Covalent bonding
The bond formed by the sharing of electrons between the atoms of elements is called a covalent
bond. The main purpose for bond formation is the attainment of stability that can be obtained
by completing either octet (8 electrons in the outermost shell) or duplet (2 electrons in the
outermost shell).
Some instances of covalent bonding are discussed ahead:
1. Hydrogen: H atom has 1 electron in its K shell that is outermost valence shell so it requires
only 1 more electron to complete its duplet. Therefore, 2 H atoms share electrons to form a
molecule.
Oxygen (6): Oxygen has 6 electrons in the outermost shell. It needs 2 electrons to complete its
octet. Therefore, each atom shares two electrons to form a double covalent bond.

Nitrogen(7): N atom has 5 electrons in its outermost shell. It requires 3 electrons to complete
its octet. Thus, 2 N atoms share 3 electrons each between them forming a triple covalent bond.

Methane: It is a compound of carbon with molecular formula CH4. C has 4 valence electrons. It
shares these electrons with 4 H atoms containing 1 electron each to establish single covalent
bonds.
Allotropes of Carbon
Allotropes are the different forms of a compound that exhibit
different physical properties. Different allotropes of carbon
are:
1. Diamond
2. Graphite
3. Fullerene
Graphite
Each carbon atom is bonded to 3 other carbon
atoms in graphite in the same plane giving a
hexagonal structure. One of these bonds is a
double bond thereby satisfying the valency of
the carbon atom. It exhibits a layered structure
where hexagonal arrays are placed in various
layers.
Graphite is used as a lubricant and it is a good
conductor of heat and electricity.
It is a greyish-black opaque substance that is
soft and slippery.
Diamond
Diamond is the hardest substance on Earth.
In this, each carbon atom is bonded to 4 other carbon
atoms forming a strong rigid structure.
It can be synthesized in the lab by subjecting carbon
to a very high temperature and pressure. These are
known as synthetic diamonds. They are smaller but
otherwise indistinguishable from the natural
diamonds.
It is a transparent substance with extraordinary
brilliance owing to which it is used in ornaments.
BUCKMINSTER FULLERENE
Fullerenes form another class of carbon
allotropes.
The first one to be identified under this class
of allotropes of carbon was C-60 which shows
C atoms arranged in the form of a football.
The design of allotrope looked like a geodesic
dome designed by US architect Buckminster
Fuller, so it was named after him.
Versatile nature of Carbon atom
The carbon and its compounds are studied as a separate branch of chemistry known as organic
chemistry. This is due to the following reasons:
Catenation: The C atoms exhibit a unique self-linking property forming long chains and thereby large
molecules. The compounds may have long chains, branched, or in the form of rings. These
compounds are covalently linked by single, double, or triple covalent bonds. No other element
exhibits catenation to the extent it is witnessed in the case of carbon. This makes it different from
other elements.

Tetravalency: Carbon has 4 valence electrons that can be shared to form 4 covalent bonds. Carbon
has a small size which makes the covalent bonds with other compounds exceptionally stable. This
gives rise to a number of compounds that have different properties depending upon their constituent
atoms.
 Questions:

1. An element with atomic number 6 exhibits 2 physical forms A and B. Form A is an extremely hard
substance and is used by surgeons to remove cataracts from eyes. B on the other hand is very
slippery to touch and upon mixing with clay leaves an impression on the paper sheet. A and B
respectively are:
(A) Diamond and Graphite
(B) Graphite and Buckminsterfullerene
(C) Diamond and Buckminsterfullerene
(D) Graphite and Diamond
2. Burning Diamond, graphite or Buckminsterfullerene in oxygen results in the formation of
(A) Carbon dioxide gas and black residue
(B) Carbon monoxide gas and black residue
(C) Only carbon dioxide gas
(D) Only a black residue
3. Why Graphite is a good conductor of heat and electricity?
Hydrocarbons
The compounds of carbon and hydrogen are called hydrocarbons.
An important source of hydrocarbons is petroleum or natural gas.
Hydrocarbons include compounds such as Methane (CH4), ethane (C2H6), ethene (C2H4), and
ethyne (C2H2) etc.
Types of Hydrocarbons
The compounds of carbon may be saturated or
unsaturated.
Saturated Compounds: The carbon forms covalent
compounds by sharing its valence electrons. If only one
pair of electrons is shared between the atoms it forms
a single covalent bond and the compound formed is
called a saturated compound.
Unsaturated Compounds: When two or three pairs of
electrons are shared between the atoms it results in
the formation of double or triple covalent bonds. Such
compounds are called unsaturated compounds.
The general formula of saturated hydrocarbons
(alkanes) is CnH2n+2 where n is the number of carbon
atoms in one molecule of the alkane.