ORGANIC CHEMISTRY

Organic chemistry is the study of all carbon containing compounds except the very
simplest ones such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and carbonates.
The word, organic, means ‘living’. At first organic chemistry was the study of carbon
chemicals from plants and animals. Now it involves the study of synthetic plastics,
detergents, dyes, medicines and drugs.
THE STRUCTURE AND BONDING OF CARBON COMPOUNDS
Carbon can form so many compounds because carbon atoms can join together in different
ways forming chains, branched chains and rings. In organic compounds, carbon atoms
form bonds with hydrogen, oxygen and halogen atoms. Carbon is a tetravalent atom. That
means, it forms 4 bonds around it.
i. In the space below show how a carbon atom may bond with hydrogen to form the
organic compound methane,CH4.

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ii. What type of bonding is observed in organic compounds such as methane?

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iii. How many bonds does a carbon atom form in order to become stable?

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THE HOMOLOGOUS SERIES

A homologous series is a group of compounds with the same general formula and
similar chemical properties.

Members of a homologous series have:

 The same general formula
 Similar chemical properties because they have the same functional group.
 Different melting and boiling points such that the melting and boiling points increase
as the number of carbon atoms increases
 There is gradual change in the physical properties of the compounds in the same
series as the number of carbon atoms increase.
This is because as the carbon chain get longer, the inter molecular forces also increase.
 NAMING UNBRANCHED ORGANIC COMPOUNDS

To name an organic compound you follow simple steps below.

1. Count the number of carbon atoms linked together in the chain and name this chain

Number of carbon atoms Name of chain

1 Meth-

2 Eth-

3 Prop-

4 But-

5 Pent-

2. Identify the homologous series to which the compound belongs to by identifying the
functional group attached to the carbon chain. This gives the compound its name
ending.

Functional group Homologous series Name ending

Single C-C bonds Alkanes -ane

A C=C double bond Alkenes -ene

An O-H (OH) group Alkanols -ol

A COOH group Alkanoic acids -oic acid

Functional group:

Groups of atoms or bonds common to a series or family of compounds which decide

the principal chemical properties of the series.
Examples

Name the following organic compounds

Structure No. of Functional Name of compound

carbons group

CLASS EXERCISE

Draw structures of the following-

1. propane 2. butene 3. propanol 4. an organic acid with three carbon atoms

COMPLETE THE TABLE BELOW:

NAME OF GRAPHICAL MOLECULAR SERIES/

COMPOUND STRUCTURE FORMULA FAMILY

C2H5OH
ethanol

C2H6

propanoic acid carboxylic

acids

C3H6

HYDROCARBONS
A hydrocarbon is a compound containing hydrogen and carbon atoms only.
e.g. methane ; CH4 , ethene C2H4
THE ALKANES
Are hydrocarbons that have the general formula CnH2n+2
SOURCES OF ALKANES
The main most important natural source of alkanes are petroleum, fossil fuels and natural
gas.

Fossil fuels (which are the source of hydrocarbons) come from the decay of plants or the
animals which fed on them.

Combustion of fossil fuels releases the energy which has been stored up in the plant and
animal remains for millions of years. Fossil fuels are a finite resource (there are only a
certain amount of them). Fossil fuels are a non-renewable energy source. Once used, they
are gone.
 Where is crude oil (petroleum) found? (General)
Crude oil is a viscous liquid. It is a mixture of different substances with different
hydrocarbons as the main constituents.
Crude oil - sometimes called petroleum - is found in the Earth's crust. The many liquids
in crude oil have different boiling points and so they can be separated by fractional
distillation

Millions of years ago small animals and plants died and fell to the bottom of the sea.
Their remains were covered by mud.

How did it get trapped underground?

 The mud eventually turned to rock.
 This rock put a lot of pressure on the dead animals and plants.
 Rocks around them also heated them up.
 Together the heat and the pressure turned the remains into crude oil. It was
important that no air or oxygen was present.

Fractional distillation picture

 Crude oil is heated until it boils and then the hydrocarbon gases are entered into
the bottom of the fractionating column.
 As the gases go up the column the temperature decreases. The hydrocarbon gases
condense back into liquids and the fractions are removed from the sides of the
column.
 The smaller the hydrocarbon molecule, the further it rises up the column before
condensing.
 A sample of crude oil may be separated in the laboratory by fractional distillation.
 The distillation takes place in a steel tower.
 The tower is hottest at the bottom and coolest at the top.
 The crude oil is heated in a furnace and fed near the bottom of the tower.
 The vapors rise up the column until they are cool enough to condense.
 Different substances condense at different levels and are separated.

Cracking of hydrocarbons
After fractional distillation of crude oil there are too many large hydrocarbons and not
enough small hydrocarbons to meet the public's demand.

Some of the large hydrocarbons (the heavier fractions) are broken down into more useful
smaller hydrocarbons (lighter fractions) by a process known as cracking.

Cracking results in the formation of smaller, more useful alkanes (such as petrol),
and even more useful alkenes (such as ethene).
The fractions of crude oil consist almost entirely of alkanes.
Cracking is the main source of alkenes
Cracking of hydrocarbons involves thermal decomposition. This means that the large
hydrocarbon molecules break into smaller molecules when they are heated.

The hydrocarbons are boiled and the hydrocarbon gases are passed over a hot powdered
aluminium oxide (Al2O3) catalyst..
For example,

Decane (an alkane with 10 carbons) can be cracked to produce octane and ethene.
decane octane + ethene.
C10H22(g) C8H18(g) + C2H4(g)
Octane is used as petrol.
Ethene is used in the manufacture of polymers.

If you add up the number of hydrogen atoms in the above reaction, you will see that there
are 22 on each side.

An alkene is produced because there are not enough hydrogen atoms to produce two
alkanes, after the original hydrocarbon is broken. Cracking takes place at about 600 °C.

CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF ALKANES

Alkanes do not react with most chemicals as they are saturated, having only C-C and C-
H single bonds. They do however undergo combustion and reaction with chlorine in the
presence of sunlight.
Combustion reaction
1. They burn in excess air to form carbon dioxide and steam (water) and release lots of
energy

Alkanes + Oxygen Carbon dioxide + steam + energy

Examples
a. CH4 + 2 O2 CO2 + 2H2O
b. C3H8 + 5O2 3CO2 + 4H2O
In a limited supply of oxygen, carbon monoxide will be produced
Substitution reaction of alkanes
A Substitution reaction is a reaction in which one or more atoms of an organic compound
are replaced with one or two other atoms.
Alkanes undergo substitution reactions with halogens in the presence of light. The
product formed is a haloalkane. This reaction is an example of photo catalytic reaction

ALKANE + HALOGEN HALOALKANE

Examples;

a. CH4 + Cl2 CH3Cl + HCI

b. C2H6 + CI2 C2H5CI + HCI

UNSATURATED COMPOUNDS
These are compounds which contain a C=C double bond or triple bond.
e.g. Alkenes and alkynes.
THE ALKENES
Alkenes are unsaturated compounds that contain a C=C double bond between two
carbons
They form the homologous series that have the general formula CnH2n
SOURCES OF ALKENES
Alkanes are obtained from cracking of large hydrocarbon molecules. High temperature
and pressure are needed to break up the large molecules. The two catalyst used are
alumina (Al2O3) and silica (SiO2).
Cracking ; This means breaking down large less useful molecules into small more useful
molecules. Cracking is carried out at a temperature of 500 oC using aluminium oxide or
silicon dioxide as a catalyst.
EXAMPLE
C18H38 C8H18 + C10H20
A lot of ethene is produced in this manner. Ethene is useful in the manufacture of ethanol
and plastics such as polyethene
The other uses of cracking
i. It is a means of producing alkenes
ii. Cracking is also means of producing hydrogen gas
 REACTIONS OF ALKENES
Alkenes undergo addition reactions across their double bond
ADDITION ACROSS A DOUBLE BOND
The double bond opens up leaving only a single bond between the two carbon

ii. New atoms are the added to each of the two carbon atoms

Examples of addition reactions

ADDITION OF HYDROGEN
Alkane react with hydrogen to form alkanes. This reaction is called hydrogenation.
Reaction conditions;
i. Nickel as a catalyst
ii. A temperature of 300 oC
2. HYDRATION
This refers to addition of water. During this reaction the water is broken down and added
as H and OH ( it is not broken down into O2 and H2 )
Reaction conditions;
i. A temperature of 300 oC
ii. Phosphoric acid H3PO4 as a catalyst

3. BROMINATION

This refers to addition of bromine. The reaction occurs at room temperature and pressure

ADDITION OF BROMINE TO ALKANES AND ALKENES

The reaction of alkanes with bromine requires sunlight and therefore it does not normally
occur at room temperature and pressure.
The reaction of alkenes with bromine takes place at room temperature and pressure to
form a bromo alkane.
Alkenes therefore are able to decolorize the brown bromine water.This reaction is used to
distinguish between alkanes and alkenes.(between saturated and unsaturated compounds )
Distinguishing between saturated and unsaturated compounds (using bromine )
Test
Uses of hydrocarbons (General)
 Alkanes and Alkenes
Alkanes are unreactive and are mainly used as fuels.
Alkenes are much more reactive than alkanes because alkenes are unsaturated (they have
a reactive double bond).
Ethene and propene are the starting materials for polymers, giving poly(ethene) and
poly(propene)

An alkene may be distinguished from an alkane by shaking the hydrocarbon with

bromine water.

Bromine water is brown, and will lose its colour with an alkene
but not with an alkane.
Bromine adds across the double bond of an alkene to form a colorless dibromo alkane.

This is an example of an addition reaction.

An addition reaction occurs when two or more reactants join together to form a single
product.
Isomers.
Isomers are compounds which have the same molecular formula but a different structural
formula.

The structural formula (sometimes called the displayed formula)

shows how the atoms are joined together in the molecule.
For hydrocarbons, this means that isomers have the same number of carbon and hydrogen
atoms, but the carbon atoms are joined to each other in different ways.
The more carbon atoms a compound has, the greater the number of isomers there can be.

Propane (3 carbon atoms) has 0 isomers.

Butane (4 carbon atoms) has 2 isomers.
Pentane (5 carbon atoms) has 3 isomers.

There are also isomers of alkenes and alcohols.

Combustion of Hydrocarbons.
Hydrocarbons are mainly used as fuels. The burning of a substance in air is called
combustion. In chemistry, combustion (or burning) means reacting with oxygen.

Combustion is a form of oxidation. The main products of combustion from hydrocarbons

are carbon dioxide, water and heat. The reaction is exothermic (gives out heat energy).