Organic Chemistry (Science)

Explore functional groups in organic chemistry, including carbon–carbon multiple bonds (alkene, alkyne, benzene) and carbonyl derivatives (aldehyde, ketone, carboxylic acid, ester, amide, acid chloride), plus alkyl halide, alcohol, and ether.

Explore isomerism by contrasting structural and stereoisomerism, including chain, functional, and positional types, using C4H10 and propanol as examples, and identify geometrical and optical enantiomers with R/S configurations.

Alkanes are simple hydrocarbons with carbon-carbon single bonds; methane to butane follow CNH2N+2, with isomers like n-butane and isobutane and alkyl groups methyl, ethyl, propyl.

Learn to name alkanes by identifying the longest continuous chain, choosing the correct parent, numbering substituents for lowest positions, and forming the full IUPAC name with hyphens, commas, and prefixes.

learn to name cycloalkanes by selecting the parent between a cyclic ring and open chain, add cyclo prefix, identify substituents (methyl, propyl, iso, tert) and number for lowest locants.

Explore how alkanes combust with oxygen to CO2 and H2O, release energy, undergo radical chlorination to form HCl, and melting/boiling points rise with molecular weight due to dispersion forces.

Explore conformations of ethane and propane using Newman projections, dihedral angles, and eclipsed versus staggered structures. Learn how torsional strain governs energy and stability.

Explores butane conformations with a Newman projection, highlighting eclipsed and staggered forms, torsional and steric strains, and the gauche and anti arrangements.

Examine how cycloalkane conformations create angle and torsional strain, from cyclopropane’s planar geometry to cyclobutane’s puckered envelope and pocket forms, with cyclopentane showing intermediate angles.

Cyclohexane shifts from planar to chair to reduce eclipsing hydrogens and torsional strain, becoming more stable; a chair has axial and equatorial bonds that swap when the chair flips.

Explore alkenes, unsaturated hydrocarbons with a carbon-carbon double bond, compare substitution levels from unsubstituted to tetra-substituted, and explain how trans and cis geometries and symmetry affect stability.

Assess the degree of unsaturation by comparing a structure to its saturated reference, counting hydrogens removed for double bonds, rings, or triple bonds, as in benzene.

Learn to name alkenes by selecting the longest chain that includes the double bond, assign lowest numbers for the double bond, and apply substituent prefixes like ethyl and methyl.

Learn rules for naming cycloalkenes, assign the double bond as C1-C2, and minimize substituent numbers; explore examples like methyl- and di methyl-substituted cyclohexenes and stability trends—more substituted equals greater stability.

Explore the stereochemistry of alkenes, distinguishing cis/trans and E/Z designations using the can ingold prelog rule. Examine how substitution patterns and ranking determine geometry.

Explore two elimination routes to prepare alkenes: dehydrohalogenation of alkyl halides to form double bonds, and dehydration of alcohols using sulfuric acid, yielding alkenes and water.

Explore addition reactions of alkenes, including halogenation with Cl2 or Br2 forming vicinal dihalides, and hydrogenation with H2, emphasizing symmetry and the need for a catalyst.

Learn hydrohalogenation of alkenes, applying Markovnikov regioselectivity via carbocation intermediates, and compare hydration mechanisms—acid-catalyzed (Markovnikov) and hydroboration (anti-Markovnikov)—plus halohydrin formation.

Treat alkenes with ozone to cleave the carbon–carbon double bond, forming an ozonide that rearranges, then reduce with zinc in acid to yield carbonyl compounds.

Explore polymerization of alkenes, turning monomers like ethene into polymers such as polyethylene through addition reactions that break pi bonds and form repeating units.

Explore alkene reactions, including Markovnikov and anti-Markovnikov hydration, acid-catalyzed hydration, hydrohalogenation with HCl, and halogenation with Cl2. Examine ozonolysis with zinc reduction and the open-chain versus cyclic product outcomes.

Explore the structure of alkynes, differentiate internal and terminal types, and explain the terminal hydrogen's acidity linked to the carbon–carbon triple bond.

Learn to name alkynes by identifying the longest chain containing the triple bond, numbering for lowest positions, and applying prefixes like di and cycloalkyne rules.

Learn how to prepare alkynes by dehydrohalogenation of alkyl halides, converting a double bond to a triple bond through two successive eliminations using potassium hydroxide in ethanol.

Learn how alkynes react by hydrogenation to alkenes and alkanes, with cis or trans selectivity determined by catalysts or sodium in liquid ammonia, and halogenation forming dihalides and tetrahalides.

Apply hydrohalogenation to unsymmetrical alkynes under Markovnikov's rule, adding H and Br to form a vinyl halide, then hydrate to yield an enol that tautomerizes into a ketone.

Explore oxidative cleavage of alkynes, turning internal and terminal triple bonds into carboxylic acids and, for terminal carbons, carbon dioxide, using ozone or other oxidizing agents.

Explains the acidity of terminal alkynes, where sodium amide deprotonates the hydrogen to form an acetylide ion that alkylates with a halide to extend chain; internal alkynes lack this hydrogen.

Explore reactions of alkynes, including hydrogenation of terminal alkynes, halogenation with HCl and Br, oxidative cleavage, mercury-catalyzed hydration with enol rearrangement, and base-promoted reactions per Markovnikov rules.

Explore organic halides, or haloalkanes, covering naming, substituent roles, and classes from methyl to tertiary alkyl halides, plus bond length, bond strength, and carbon electrophilicity.

Develop methods to prepare alkyl halides from alkanes and alkenes via halogenation or hydrohalogenation, and apply allylic bromination with NBS under light.

Explore how alkyl halides form Grignard reagents with magnesium in ether, creating a nucleophilic carbon that adds to CO2, water, alcohols, aldehydes, or ketones to give carboxylic acids or alcohols.

Study nucleophilic substitution and elimination of primary to tertiary alkyl halides, covering SN2 and SN1 mechanisms, leaving groups, carbocations, and racemic mixtures.

Explain elimination reactions of haloalkanes, comparing E2 and E1 mechanisms, their one- and two-step paths, carbocation intermediates, and how substrate type and nucleophile strength govern alkene formation.

The Zaitsev rule states that in an elimination of haloalkanes, the more highly substituted alkene predominates, yielding the major product as di- or tri-substituted.

Explore aromatic hydrocarbons and benzene’s cyclic six-carbon framework with alternating double bonds, including toluene and phenol. Learn IUPAC naming for monosubstituted and disubstituted benzenes, including ortho, meta, and para positions.

Examine benzene’s structure and stability via resonance and delocalized pi electrons, explaining substitution over addition, planar sp2 hybridization, and the uniform 1.5 bond character.

Assess aromaticity by planarity, monocyclic conjugation, and the 4n+2 pi electron rule; count contributing electrons (including lone pairs) and verify n is an integer, via benzene and heterocycles.

Explore how pyridine and pyrrole form aromatic heterocycles through planar, conjugated sp2 systems. Examine Huckel's rule, lone-pair contributions, and the effects of protonation, with imidazole as a case study.

Explore electrophilic aromatic substitution on benzene, where hydrogen is replaced by an electrophile through electrophilic attack and proton loss, giving halogenation, nitration, sulfonation, and Friedel-Crafts alkylation and acylation.

Explore how substituents affect electrophilic aromatic substitution, distinguishing activating (ortho/para directing) from deactivating (meta directing) groups, and predict major products in nitration, halogenation, and sulfonation.

Explore benzene oxidation by ozonolysis yielding aldehydes and ketones through ring breakdown, and benzene hydrogenation under high pressure (about 130 atm) with platinum to convert pi bonds to single bonds.

Examine oxidation of alkyl side chains on benzene to benzoic acid. Explore reductions, hydrogenations, halogenations, and hydrohalogenation on side chains.