ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
During the next several days,
we will be studying organic
nomenclature
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
• This material will be a
lot different
– non-mathematical
(you won’t need
calculators)
– a lot of memorization
• It will be best to make
a set of flashcards as
we go along
Daily work
• During this unit, we
will be having daily
quizzes (no notes)
• During this unit,
you will be doing
several worksheets
• The quizzes start
tomorrow
Well, let’s get started
• Organic chemistry is the
study of carbon
containing compounds
• Remember, that
carbon always makes
four bonds
• Organic compounds may
also contain hydrogen,
oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur,
halogens, and other
elements
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
• We will cover aromatic systems in detail
later
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 is considered the parent
structure and 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 compounds
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 twenty alkanes
– look at page one of the handout
– you should know names and formulas
Here are the first 10 alkanes:
• Methane = CH4
• Hexane = C6H14
• Ethane = C2H6
• Heptane = C7H16
• Propane = C3H8
• Octane = C8H18
• Butane = C4H10
• Nonane = C9H20
• Pentane = C5H12
• Decane = C10H22
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
ALKYL GROUPS
• 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
– Internation 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
HOW ARE YOU DOING
WITH ORGANIC?
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
• The simplest alkene is ethene (also called
ethylene
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
• The simplest alkyne is ethyne also called
acetylene