Cape Chemistry Unit 2

Recap

Hydrocarbons are organic compounds which contain only carbon and

hydrogen.
Single bonds are formed between adjacent carbon atoms in which a carbon
atom shares a pair of electrons with another carbon atom. This leaves 3 other
electrons per carbon atom available for bonding.
Double bonds can also form between adjacent carbon atoms in which they
share 2 pairs of electrons with another carbon atom. This leaves 2 other
electrons per carbon atom available for bonding.
Organic compound that contain 1 or more double bonds(or triple bonds)
between adjacent carbon atoms are known as unsaturated compounds.
Unbranched chains are straight chains of carbon e.g. Butane (C4H10) has an
unbranched chain of 4 carbon atoms with single bonds between adjacent atoms.
Branched chains are those that have smaller side-groups along the main chain
e.g. methyl propane (C4H10) is a chain of 3 carbon atoms with the 4th carbon
atom branching off from the middle carbon atom of the chain.
Functional groups are particular groups of atoms or particular bonds between 2
carbon atoms within the molecule. The functional group also determines the
chemical properties of the compound containing it.
Structural isomers are compounds which have the same molecular formula but
different structural formulae
define, with examples, structural isomerism.
The side chains which branch off from the longest chains of carbon atoms in a
molecule are known as alkyl groups.

Name of functional
group
C-C (Single bond)

Structure of functional
group

Example
Ethane

C=C (double bond)

Ethene

Hydroxyl group

Ethanol

Carboxylic group

Ethanoic acid

Ester group

Ethyl

Table 1 showing functional groups

Objective 1.1
Explain the occurrence of carbon compounds with straight chains, branched
chains and rings.
Carbon versatile because of the large variety of compounds it can form. This is so
because carbon can form different types of bonds as well as bonding with other
elements.
There are some properties which makes carbon outstanding.
Tetravalency- this means that it has four electrons on its outermost shell which
makes it readily available for covalent bonding.
Catenation- this is where carbon has the ability to bond with other carbon
atoms to form straight chains, branched chains and ring compounds with
interconnecting C-C bonds.

 Hybridization- this means carbon has the ability to rearrange the four orbitals in
the outer shell (hybrid orbitals are formed when two or more atomic orbitals
can mix to create new orbitals of equal energy.
Resonance-

Objective 1.2
Explain the meaning of the term homologous series.
This is a family of organic compounds containing the same functional group.
# of carbon
atoms
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

General formula
CnH2n+2
CnH2n
CnH2n+1OH
CnH2n+1COOH
CnH

Homologous
series
Alkane
Alkene
Alcohol
Alkanoic acid
Ester

Prefix
Meth
Eth
Prop
But
Pent
Hex
Hept
Oct
Non
Dec

Example
Methane
Ethanol
Propene
Butanoic
Pentane
Hexane
Heptane
Octane

Characteristics of the Homologous Series

All members of the series have the same functional group;
All members can be represented by the same general formula;
Each member of the series differs from the member before it or after it by a
CH2- group or by 2 rotated molecular mass of fourteen;
All members of the series possess similar chemical properties. Reactivity
decreases as molecular mass increase that is the # of carbon atoms per
molecule increases;
All members of the series show a change in the physical properties as their
molecular mass increases;
All members of the series can be prepared by the same general method.
Objective 1.3

Distinguish between empirical, molecular and structural formulae

Empirical formula- The empirical formula of a compound is a formula that
shows the ratio of elements present in the compound.
Sample question
On analysis a compound was found to contain 55.19% Potassium, 14.62%
Phosphorus and 30.19% Oxygen. Determine the empirical formula of this
compound.
Sample answer

% of elements
Mass of element
in 100g of
compound

K
55.19%
55.19g

P
14.62%
14.62g

O
30.19%
30.19g

39

31

16

Ar(mass#) of
element
# of mole of
element
Mole ratio

55.19
39

=1.415

1.415
0.472

14.62
31

=0.472

0.472
0.472

30.19
16

=1

=2.99=3
Empirical formula

=1.887

1.887
0.472

=3.99=4
K3PO4

NB to find the mole ratio you must divide by the smallest # of moles.
Molecular formulae- this shows the number of atoms present in a molecule of a
compound.
How to find the molecular formulae
I.
II.
III.

The question will or should have the relative mass of the compound.
Find the empirical formula
Use the formula given to find the molecular formulae.

IV.

mass of compound
mass of E . Formula

mass of compound=the sum of the mass #s of the

elements
Structural formulae- show the bonds in the molecule. There are 2 ways in
which it can be expressed. These are:
Displayed formula-where all the bonds are clearly shown with the
location of the atoms.
Condensed structural this shows the placement of the atoms in the
molecule.

Objective 1.4
Determine formulae
experimental data

from

Objective 1.5
Write structural formulae
Objective 1.6
Apply the IUPAC rules to named organic compounds

Identify the longest carbon chain. This chain is called the parent chain;
Identify all the groups that are attached to the parent chain;
Number the carbons of the parent chain from the end that gives the
substituents (a substituent is an atom or group of atoms substituted in place of
a hydrogen atom on the parent chain of a hydrocarbon, becoming a moiety of
the resultant new molecule).the lowest numbers. When comparing a series of
numbers, the series that is the "lowest" is the one which contains the lowest
number at the occasion of the first difference. If two or more side chains are in
equivalent positions, assign the lowest number to the one which will come first
in the name
If the same substituent occurs more than once, the location of each point on
which the substituent occurs is given. In addition, the number of times the
substituent group occurs is indicated by a prefix (di, tri, tetra, etc.)

 If there are two or more different substituents they are listed in alphabetical
order using the base name (ignore the prefixes). The only prefix which is used
when putting the substituents in alphabetical order is iso as in isopropyl or
isobutyl. The prefixes sec- and tert- are not used in determining alphabetical
order except when compared with each other
If chains of equal length are competing for selection as the parent chain, then
the choice goes in series to:
a) the chain which has the greatest number of side chains.
b) The chain whose substituents have the lowest- numbers.
c) The chain having the greatest number of carbon atoms in the smaller side
chain.
d) The chain having the least branched side chains.
A cyclic (ring) hydrocarbon is designated by the prefix cyclo-which appears
directly in front of the base name.
NB
In summary, the name of the compound is written out with the substituents in
alphabetical order followed by the base name (derived from the number of
carbons in the parent chain). Commas are used between numbers and dashes are
used between letters and numbers. There are no spaces in the name.
Objective 1.7
Define, with examples, structural isomerism
Structural isomers are compounds which have the same molecular formula but
different structural formulae

Chain isomers- these have different arrangement of carbon chains but belong to the
same homologous series.
Butane

2-methyl propane

Positional isomers-these have functional groups located at the different positions on

the same carbon skeleton.
Butan-1-ol

butan-2-ol

Functional group isomers-these exist between compounds which have different

functional groups and belong to different homologous series
Methyl ethanoate

Objective 1.8
Explain stereoisomerism
Stereoisomerism is the arrangement of atoms in molecules whose connectivity
remains the same but their arrangement in space is different in each isomer.