SESSION 7

PART 1: EXPLORING THE FORMATION OF COMPOUNDS

Organic vs inorganic compounds

Organic compounds:
• Contain one or more carbon atoms.
• Usually, covalent bonds contain 2 or more non-metal atoms; e.g. Carbohydrates (made up of
one or more monosaccharides), proteins (made up of amino acids), fats (made up of fatty
acids and glycerol), and nucleic acids (DNA and RNA, many carbon atoms) are large organic
compounds.

Inorganic compounds:
• Do not contain any carbon atoms.
• Some covalent compounds, and some ionic compounds, e.g. NaCl (table salt, ionic
compound), H2O (water, covalent compound), NH3 (ammonia).

Hydrocarbon compounds:
• The most basic organic compounds are hydrocarbons.
• Contain only carbon and hydrogen atoms.
• Created in nature and can be synthesised in the laboratory.

Atoms connect together to form compounds:

• Atoms connect via chemical bonds to form compounds, allowing the atoms to become stable
• The atoms in organic compounds form covalent bonds to fill their valance electron shells, as
atoms that contain full valence electron shells are stable.
• Atoms within compounds are more stable than atoms not part of a compound.
• The subatomic particle responsible for chemical bonding is the atom’s electrons specifically,
unpaired valence electrons.

Paired electrons: Stable, unreactive, do not contribute to chemical bonding.

Unpaired electrons: Unstable, reactive, contribute to chemical bonding.

• The group number of a representative element (group A) is equal to the number of valence
electrons in the atom.
• Carbon is in group IV, so it contains 4 valence electrons; Oxygen is in group VI, so it contains
6 valence electrons.

Lewis Symbols: The number of valence electrons in a representative element is the same as the
elements group number; The maximum number of valence electrons for any element is 8 (electron
octet).

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The Octet Rule: Atoms LOSE, GAIN or SHARE their valence electrons (through chemical bonding) to
obtain 8 valence electrons in their outer shell.

Noble gas: stable and unreactive; Satisfied with the octet rule; Do not react with other atoms to form
chemical bonds; Naturally have 8 valence electrons. E.g. Neon

Non-noble gas: Non-noble gas atoms form chemical bonds with each other to fill their valence electron
shells (obtain 8 electrons). E.g. Nitrogen

Covalent bonding of carbon atoms:

• Carbon belongs to group IV (A) in the periodic table, so it contains 4 unpaired valence
electrons.

• For a carbon atom to be stable, it must form 4 covalent bonds, which allows each of its
unpaired valance electrons to become part of a shared pair of electrons (covalent bond).

• Carbon atoms can form single, double, or triple covalent bonds to other atoms to have a
total of 4 covalent bonds.

• Once a carbon atom has formed 4 covalent bonds, the carbon atom has 8 electrons in its
valence electron shell and has satisfied the octet rule.

Covalent bonding of common non-metal atoms:

Each non-metal atom must form a specific number of covalent bonds to achieve a full valence electron
shell, which satisfies the octet rule.

To achieve a full valence electron shell:

• Nitrogen forms 3 covalent bonds to obtain 8 valence electrons.
• Oxygen forms 2 covalent bonds to obtain 8 valence electrons.
• Hydrogen forms 1 covalent bond to obtain 2 valence electrons.
• Halogen atoms (such as chlorine and fluorine) form 1 covalent bond to obtain 8 valence
electrons

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PART 2: DRAWING AND INTERPRETING ORGANIC COMPOUNDS

Representations of organic compounds

Organic compounds can be represented in different ways:

i) Molecular formula: This shows only the number of each type of atom present in the compound.
e.g. C3H8 - Three carbon atoms; Eight hydrogen atoms; Provides no information about how the atoms
are arranged within the compound.

ii) Complete structural formula: This shows every covalent bonding between the atoms within the
compound.

Three carbon atoms; Eight hydrogen atoms; Provides comprehensive information about how the
atoms are arranged within the compound.

iii) Condensed structural formula: Specifies the structural formula using text and shows how many
hydrogen atoms are connected to each of the carbon atoms in the compound.

e.g. CH3CH2CH3; Three carbon atoms; Eight hydrogen atoms; Provides information about how the
atoms are arranged within the compound; CH3 is connected to a CH2 which connects to another CH3.

iv) Line bonding formula: Represents the bonds between carbon atoms as lines.

Chemical bonds between the carbon atoms within the compound; Hydrogen atoms are not shown;
No atoms other than carbon or hydrogen are present so no chemical symbols are shown.

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Saturated vs unsaturated hydrocarbon compounds:

Saturated hydrocarbons Unsaturated hydrocarbons

Contain only single carbon to carbon Contain one or more double or triple
bonds; a Maximum number of hydrogen carbon to carbon bonds; Likely to contain
atoms attached to the carbon atoms. one or more single carbon to carbon
bonds.
Unreactive and stable Reactive and unstable
A large amount of energy is needed to A small amount of energy is required to
break the existing chemical bonds break the double or triple carbon to carbon
bonds present.
E.g.: Alkanes and cycloalkanes E.g.: Alkenes and cycloalkenes

Saturated Hydrocarbons:
• Saturated hydrocarbons have only single carbon to carbon bonds.
• The carbon atoms in saturated hydrocarbons form bonds to the maximum amount of
hydrogen atoms possible.
• These compounds are saturated with hydrogen atoms.
• Include Alkanes (straight chains) & Cycloalkanes (carbon rings).

Example:
o Propane is classed as an alkane
o Molecular formula: C3H8
o Condensed structural formula: CH3CH2CH3
o The ends of the compound are CH3, whereas the middle is CH2.

Unsaturated Hydrocarbons:
 Unsaturated hydrocarbons have one or more double or triple carbon to carbon bond(s).
 Also contain single carbon to carbon bonds
 These compounds are not saturated with hydrogen atoms (unsaturated) due to the presence
of double or triple carbon to carbon bonds.
 Include Alkenes (straight chains) & Cycloalkenes (carbon rings).

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Example:
o Propene is classified as an alkene
o Molecular formula: C3H6
o Condensed structural formula: CH2CHCH3
o Extra carbon to carbon bond = two less hydrogens in the compound.

PART 3: CHEMICAL REACTIVITY OF ORGANIC COMPOUNDS

Functional groups:
Functional group:
• Group of atoms within a compound that provides chemical reactivity.
• All compounds with a particular functional group will behave similarly in chemical reactions.
• To find a functional group within a compound, look for atoms other than just carbon and
hydrogen atoms.

e.g. Alcohol functional group

• A compound can contain zero, one, or more than 100 functional groups

Functional group representation: Atoms that make up the functional group attached to a place
holder, represented by an R.

R-group: Represents any possible combination of atoms capable of attaching to a functional group.

1. Single R-group functional groups: Always found at the end of a compound or a branch point
within a compound. Example: R-OH = alcohol functional group.

2. Two R-group functional groups: Always found in the middle of a compound. R-O-R = ether
functional group.

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Stereoisomers:
• Stereoisomers are a group of two very similar compounds, with each compound having the
same number of each type of atom present and the same chemical bonding pattern.

• The two stereoisomer compounds are arranged differently in space.

i) cis stereoisomer (cis – same)

Both large CH3 groups are on the same side of the carbon to carbon double bond.

ii) Trans stereoisomer (Trans – different)

Large CH3 groups are on different sides of the carbon to carbon double bond.

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