General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. 1 Chapter 11 Introduction to Organic Chemistry: Alkanes 11.1 Organic Compounds

General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. 2 Organic Compounds An organic compound  is a compound made from carbon atoms  has one or more C atoms  has many H atoms  may also contain O, S, N, P, and halogens

General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. 3 Properties of Organic Compounds Typical organic compounds  contain carbon  have covalent bonds  have low melting points  have low boiling points  are flammable  are soluble in nonpolar solvents  are not soluble in water Oil (organic) and water (inorganic)

General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. 4 Organic versus Inorganic Compounds  Propane, C 3 H 8, is an organic compound used as a fuel.  NaCl, salt, is an inorganic compound composed of Na + and Cl – ions. Question: Why is propane an organic compound, but NaCl is not?

General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. 5 Comparing Properties of Organic and Inorganic Compounds

General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. 6 Learning Check Identify each of the following characteristics as most typical of compounds that are I) inorganic or O) organic. ___ 1. has a high melting point ___ 2. is not soluble in water ___ 3. has a formula CH 3 ─CH 2 ─CH 3 ___ 4. has a formula MgCl 2 ___ 5. burns easily in air ___ 6. has covalent bonds

General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. 7 Solution Identify each of the following characteristic as most typical of compounds that are I) inorganic or O) organic. I 1. has a high melting point O 2. is not soluble in water O 3. has a formula CH 3 ─CH 2 ─CH 3 I 4. has a formula MgCl 2 O 5. burns easily in air O 6. has covalent bonds

General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. 8 Writing Formulas for Carbon Compounds In carbon compounds,  carbon has 4 valence electrons, and hydrogen has 1  to achieve an octet, C forms four bonds CH 4 (methane)

General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. 9 Tetrahedral Structure of Carbon VSEPR theory predicts that a carbon atom with four single, covalent bonds is tetrahedral as shown in a  (a) tetrahedron  (b) ball-and-stick model  (c) space-filling model  (d) expanded structural formula

General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. 10 Organic Compounds with More Carbon Atoms In organic molecules with more carbon atoms,  valence electrons are shared  covalent bonds form between carbon and carbon atoms  covalent bonds form between carbon and hydrogen atoms CH 3 ─CH 3 (methane)

General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. 11 Tetrahedral Structure of Ethane In VESPR, two carbon atoms in ethane each has a tetrahedral shape as shown in a  (a) tetrahedron  (b) ball-and-stick model  (c) space-filling model  (d) expanded structural formula