Organic Chemistry – the chemistry of CARBON…

Vitamin C

Glucose

Ethanol

Nomenclature – where do we start ????

Methane CH4

Ethane C2H6Propane C3H8

Pentane C5H12

Butane C4H10

Decane C10H22

Nonane C9H20

Octane C8H18

Heptane C7H16

Hexane C6H14

The bad news is … you MUST memorize these.

Methane --

Remember, the methane molecule is 3D with each hydrogen spaced at a maximum angle of 109 degrees around a central carbon atom.

**Methane is small, fast moving, and nonpolar.**It is a GAS at room temperature because its molecules are NOT attracted together. Van der Waals forces are not strong enough.

Ethane --

H H

H C C H

H H

I have drawn it 2D, but remember it IS 3 dimensional.

**Also small, fast, and nonpolar.

**Gas at room temperature due to small VDWaals forces.

Propane--

H H H

H C C C H

H H H

Again, its really 3D.

**Yes, this is the propane many people heat their homes with. Small, fast, nonpolar, low VDWaals forces make it a gas at room temperature.

**To make propane condense to a liquid you must decrease the temp. to –43 F at normal atmospheric pressure !!!

Butane--

H H H H

H C C C C H

H H H H

**Getting larger, still fast moving, nonpolar, and 3D, but Van der Waals forces increasing.

**Gas at room temperature, but turns to liquid at 31 degrees Farenheit !! (due to VDWaals force of attraction.) Your lighter will not work if left

in a COLD car on a winter night. WHY???

Butane Lighters If you go to the local store and buy a disposable butane lighter with a clear case (so that you can see the liquid butane inside), what you are seeing is liquid butane stored in a

high-pressure container. Butane boils at 31 degrees F at normal atmospheric pressure (14.7 PSI). By keeping butane

pressurized in a container, it remains liquid at room temperature. If you took a cup of butane and put it on your kitchen counter, it would boil, and the temperature of the boiling liquid would be 31

F. The boiling point of butane, by the way, also explains why butane lighters don't work very well on cold winter days. If it is

10 degrees Fahrenheit outside, the butane is well below its boiling point, so it cannot vaporize. Keeping the lighter warm in

your pocket is what allows it to work in the winter.

Chemistry in action…

Pentane –Decane and up…

A. You can probably guess what they look like.

B. All are 3D.

C. All are nonpolar, but getting large enough so that Van der Waals forces of attraction BETWEEN molecules make them all LIQUIDS.

D. As size increases, boiling point increases due to VdWaals.

BIOCHEMISTRY

Each glucose, when hooked together form long chains. This is how sugar is stored in your body (muscles).

LONG LONG chain sugar.