This comprehensive guide offers everything you need to master the core concepts and essential mechanisms of organic chemistry. Whether you're a beginner seeking a solid foundation or an advanced student looking to solidify your understanding, this document will be your indispensable companion.
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Organic Formulae
Displayed Formulae
Organic Chemistry is the scientific study of the structure, properties, and
reactions of organic compounds.
Organic compounds are those which contain carbon
For conventional reasons metal carbonates, carbon dioxide and carbon
monoxide are not included in organic compounds
Many of the structures you will be drawing are hydrocarbons
A hydrocarbon is a compound that contains only hydrogen and carbon
atoms
Organic compounds can be represented in a number of ways:
o Displayed Formulae
o General Formulae
o Structural Formulae
The displayed formula shows the spatial arrangement of all the atoms and
bonds in a molecule
For example:
This displayed formula tells us several things about the compound
It has 5 carbon atoms
It has 12 hydrogen atoms
It has only single bonds
,Structural Formulae
In structural formulae, enough information is shown to make the structure
clear, but most of the actual covalent bonds are omitted
Only important bonds are always shown, such as double and triple bonds
Identical groups can be bracketed together
Side groups are also shown using brackets
Straight chain alkanes are shown as follows:
Structural Isomers
Structural isomers are compounds that have the same molecular formula
but different structural formulae
The molecular formula is the actual number of atoms of each element in
a compound
Compounds with the same molecular formula can have different structural
formulae due to the different arrangement of their atoms in space
Two examples of structural isomers are shown below
,Homologous Series
This is a series or family of organic compounds that have similar features
and chemical properties due to them having the same functional group
The functional group is a group of atoms which are bonded in a specific
arrangement that is responsible for the characteristic reactions of each
member of a homologous series
, General Formulae
General Formulae
This type of formula tells you the composition of any member of a whole
homologous series of organic compound
For example, all of the alkanes have the general formula CnH2n+2, where n
represents the number of carbon atoms
This tells you that however many carbon atoms there are in the alkane,
doubling this number and adding two will give you the number of hydrogen
atoms present in the alkane
General formulae can be used to work out the formula of a compound from
different homologous series if the number of carbon atoms present is
known
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