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GOB Chemistry: Organic Compounds and Alkanes

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Terms in this set (20)

  • What defines an organic compound?

    An organic compound always contains carbon and hydrogen atoms and may also include oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen, phosphorus, or halogens.

  • What are common properties of organic compounds?

    Organic compounds typically have covalent bonds, low melting and boiling points, are flammable, and are not soluble in water.

  • How do inorganic compounds generally differ from organic compounds in properties?

    Inorganic compounds often have high melting and boiling points, are usually soluble in water if ionic, and do not burn easily.

  • What is a hydrocarbon?

    A hydrocarbon is an organic compound containing only carbon and hydrogen atoms.

  • What is a saturated hydrocarbon?

    A saturated hydrocarbon has only single bonds between carbon atoms.

  • Describe the bonding and shape of methane (CH4).

    Methane has a carbon atom bonded to four hydrogens with single covalent bonds, forming a tetrahedral shape with bond angles of 109°.

  • What are the different ways to represent organic compounds structurally?

    Organic compounds can be shown as expanded structural formulas, condensed structural formulas, or line-angle structural formulas.

  • What is a condensed structural formula?

    A condensed structural formula groups each carbon atom with its attached hydrogens, using subscripts to indicate the number of hydrogens.

  • What is a line-angle structural formula?

    A line-angle formula shows carbon atoms as ends and corners of zigzag lines, with hydrogens implied to complete four bonds per carbon.

  • How are alkanes named according to IUPAC rules?

    Alkanes are named using prefixes for the number of carbons (meth-, eth-, prop-, etc.) and end with -ane.

  • What is the shape around each carbon atom in butane (C4H10)?

    Each carbon in butane has four single covalent bonds, resulting in a tetrahedral shape.

  • What allows carbon to form many different compounds?

    Carbon atoms form strong covalent bonds with each other, allowing long, stable chains and diverse structures.

  • What are cycloalkanes?

    Cycloalkanes are cyclic alkanes with two fewer hydrogen atoms than their open-chain counterparts and are named with the prefix cyclo-.

  • How do you name branched-chain alkanes with substituents?

    Name the longest carbon chain as the parent, number from the end nearest a substituent, and list substituents alphabetically with their position numbers.

  • What are alkyl groups and halo substituents?

    Alkyl groups are carbon branches named with an -yl ending; halo substituents are halogen atoms named as fluoro, chloro, bromo, or iodo.

  • How are substituents numbered in IUPAC naming?

    Number the main chain from the end nearest the first substituent to give the lowest possible numbers to substituents.

  • How is a single substituent named on a cycloalkane?

    The substituent name is placed before the cycloalkane name without a number if only one substituent is present.

  • What are haloalkanes?

    Haloalkanes are alkanes where a halogen atom replaces a hydrogen atom, named by listing halo substituents alphabetically with their carbon position.

  • What are structural isomers?

    Structural isomers have the same molecular formula but different arrangements of atoms and bonding order.

  • Give an example of structural isomers for butane (C4H10).

    Butane has two isomers: a straight chain (butane) and a branched chain (isobutane).