1. Organic vs. Inorganic Compounds
Another way of classifying chemical compounds…

2. Every compound in the world is classified as either Organic, or Inorganic.
Did you know that well over 50% of all known compounds on earth are Organic compounds??

3. Organic Compounds
Organic compounds contain carbon (C) (and usually hydrogen (H))
Sometimes other types of atoms near carbon on the periodic table are also attached, especially: nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, phosphorus and the halogens

4. HCl H4C CH4 Organics vs Acids This differentiates organic
Organic molecules always have
C before H in their formulas.
H4C
CH4
This differentiates organic
compounds from acids,
which almost always start with H.
HCl

5. Is that why foods are called “organic”?
Organic actually derives from “coming from life”, because the compounds that plants and animals make are all C-compounds
This is NOT the meaning of organic foods though!
In this case organic foods refer to being produced without chemicals (ironically many of these chemicals are actually ORGANIC compounds!)

6. Inorganic Compounds
Inorganic compounds DO NOT contain carbon… with 3 main exceptions:
Carbon Monoxide and Carbon Dioxide (oxides)
Compounds containing cyanide (CN-) and carbonate (CO32-) ions
Examples:
FeCl2
(NH4)2SO3
PBr3
MgSO4

7. Why are Organic Compounds So Special?
Carbon has four electrons in its valence shell, which allows for more chemical bonding possibilities than any other element.
Long chains of carbons
form petroleum and plastics
Can form rings (circular), cages, and make double and triple bonds between carbons
The acetaminophen molecule:
the active ingredient in Tylenol

8. There are MANY Types of Organic compounds. We only talk about two.
Hydrocarbons
Alcohols

9. Hydrocarbons
A hydrocarbon is an organic compound that contains only carbon and hydrogen.
Hydrocarbons are based on a carbon “backbone”, or chain, with hydrogen atoms added on the sides

10. You know about hydrocarbons already!
The simplest hydrocarbons are ones that you might recognize…
Methane (CH4)--- main component of natural gas
Ethane (C2H6)--- also found in natural gas
Propane (C3H8) --- used as a fuel for BBQs
Butane (C4H10) --- an extremely flammable fluid used in industrial torches
Octane (C8H18)---a combustible liquid in gasoline
All hydrocarbons are flammable, and most are liquids at room temperature

11. Alcohols
Alcohols are organic compounds with C, an OH group, and their name ends in ‘ol’.
The simplest alcohols are:
Methanol (CH4O)--- used in labs as a solvent
(dissolves other materials)
Ethanol (C2H6O)---is a psychoactive drug (present in alcohol), but is now being considered as a fuel source
Isopropyl alcohol (C3H8O)---rubbing alcohol used to sterilize cuts
Alcohols are generally very flammable

12. ORGANIC OR NOT???
DNA
ORGANIC---DNA is has a sugar backbone, which consists of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen

13. ORGANIC OR NOT??? Vegetable Oil
ORGANIC--- oils and fats are long-chain carbon compounds, which are used by living things as a way of storing energy

14. ORGANIC OR NOT??? Sulphuric Acid
NOT! Sulphuric acid (H2SO4) is the strong acid found in car batteries, but doesn’t contain carbon and isn’t organic

15. ORGANIC OR NOT??? Corn starch
ORGANIC! Starch is produced by plants as a way of storing sugars that they don’t need right away

16. ORGANIC OR NOT??? Copper (II) Sulphate
NOT! Copper (II) sulphate is a beautiful blue crystal, but does not contain carbon and is definitely not organic!

17. Some different representations:
Structural formula- lists the elements and their proportions in the order they are bonded
Methane CH4
Methanol CH3OH
Acetic Acid (Vinegar)
CH3COOH

18. Three different representations:
Ball-and-stick model- each element is given a different colour and/or size and the picture shows how many and how the elements are bonded
Each black ball represents C… Each white ball represents H…
The red ball represents O…
This is ….
Ethanol! (alcohol group -0H)

19. Three different representations:
Space-filling model- similar to a ball-and-stick model, but the balls are proportional to the sizes of the atoms
This is …
Methane!
Heme- the iron-containing component of hemoglobin, C34H32FeN4O4