Organic Chemistry
An introduction to
the chemicals of life!
Organic vs. Inorganic
• Contains
• Generally does
Carbon
not contain
Carbon
• Found in and/or
produced by
• Natural and
living things
synthetic
substances
• Includes fossil
fuels
Characteristics of Carbon:
• Can form 4 strong bonds
• May form double and triple bonds
• Strong bonds with many nonmetals
(H, O, Cl, N)
• Can form long chain molecules
We will begin with hydrocarbons
• Hydrocarbons contain only carbon and
hydrogen
• There are three types of hydrocarbons:
–Aliphatic
–Alicyclic
–Aromatic
ALIPHATIC HYDROCARBONS
• Aliphatic hydrocarbons contain
chains of carbon atoms
• There can be as few as one carbon
and as many as several thousand in
these chains
• The chains can be “straight” or they
can be branched
ALICYCLIC
HYDROCARBONS
• Alicyclic hydrocarbons contain rings of
carbon atoms
• There can be as few as three carbons in a
ring or as many as 10-15
• The ring systems are three dimensional,
not flat
AROMATIC
HYDROCARBONS
• Aromatic hydrocarbons usually contain
six member carbon rings with alternating
single and double bonds around the ring
• The system of single and double bonds
makes them aromatic rather than alicyclic
• The basic ring member is called “benzene”
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
• Organic compounds can be thought of as being
made up of a small number of different parts
which can be assembled in an infinite number of
ways.
• The longest chain of an organic compound is
considered the parent structure. The groups
attached are called functional groups
• There are many more organic compounds than
inorganic compounds
How are you doing so far?
• Organic chemistry is
very important for
anyone pursuing any
type of medical career
• In college, organic
chemistry is usually a
two or three semester
experience
SATURATED VERSUS UNSATURATED
• A saturated organic
compound contains
only carbon-carbon
single bonds
• They can be aliphatic
or alicyclic, but not
aromatic
• An unsaturated
organic compound
contains at least one
carbon-carbon double
or triple bond
• They can be aliphatic,
alicyclic, or aromatic
Back to the aliphatic hydrocarbons
• There are three types of aliphatic hydrocarbons
– alkanes (single bonds only)
– alkenes (at least one double bond)
– alkynes (at least one triple bond)
ALKANES
• Also called the paraffins
• They are saturated hydrocarbons (contain
maximum number of hydrogen atoms)
• Have the general formula, CnH2n+2
• Let’s consider the first thirty alkanes
• (handout chart)
If there is only one Carbon, how
many hydrogen atoms are there?
Answer = 4
CH4 is called methane
What about two carbon atoms?
Alkanes Chart -
• Let’s go to the
the board and
look at the
structural
formulas for
the alkanes
handout
MOLECULAR ISOMERS
• Molecular isomers have the same
formula, but different structure
– the difference occurs based on how the
carbon atoms are arranged
– there can be many different isomers for the
same formula
Example
• Butane has a formula of C4H10
• C–C–C–C
• C–C–C
|
C
Let’s Go to the board again
and write the 5 isomers for
Hexane
C6H14
ALKENES
• Also called the olefins
• They are unsaturated hydrocarbons
containing one or more carbon-carbon
double bonds
• They are named by changing the -ane
ending to -ene
• They have the general formula CNH2N
ALKYNES
• Also called the acetylenes
• They are unsaturated hydrocarbons
containing one or more carbon-carbon
triple bond
• They are named by changing the -ane
ending to -yne
• They have the general formula CNH2N-2
ALKYL GROUPS
(handout)
• Alkyl groups are
functional groups
made from the
alkanes
– they are saturated
– to name them, change
the -ane ending to -yl
– example: methane
becomes methyl
Naming organic compounds
• In order to name
organic compounds, a
very systematic
approach is used
• The system is called
IUPAC
– International Union of
Pure and Applied
Chemistry
Rules for IUPAC naming
• Determine the parent structure (longest
continuous carbon chain) and write down
the name
• Circle each substituent group (functional
group) attached to the parent structure
• Number the parent structure starting from
the end closest to a substituent group
More IUPAC rules
• Write down the name of each substituent
group preceded by a number showing the
point of attachment to the parent structure
• Use commas to separate numbers and
hyphens to separate substituent groups
• Use binary prefixes to indicate how many
of each substituent group is present
Binary Prefixes
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Di
Tri
Tetra
Penta
Hexa
Hepta
Octa
Nona
Deca