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1: Introduction to Organic Chemistry

  • Page ID
    396218
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    • 1.1: Why Is Organic Chemistry Special?
      One very important factor that make so much of chemistry center on a single element is that carbon-carbon bonds are strong, so long chains or rings of bonded carbon atoms are possible. Carbon is not unique in forming bonds to itself because other elements such as boron, silicon, and phosphorus form strong bonds in the elementary state. The uniqueness of carbon stems more from the fact that it forms strong carbon-carbon bonds that also are strong when in combination with other elements.
    • 1.2: sp³ Hybrid Orbitals and the Structure of Methane
      The four identical C-H single bonds in methane form as the result of sigma bond overlap between the sp3 hybrid orbitals of carbon and the s orbital of each hydrogen.
    • 1.3: sp² Hybrid Orbitals and the Structure of Ethylene
      The C=C bond in ethylene forms as the result of both a sigma bond overlap between a sp2 hybrid orbital on each carbon and a pi bond overlap of a p orbital on each carbon
    • 1.4: sp Hybrid Orbitals and the Structure of Acetylene
      The carbon-carbon triple bond in acetylene forms as the result of one sigma bond overlap between a sp hybrid orbital on each carbon and two pi bond overlaps of p orbitals on each carbon.
    • 1.5: Hybridization of Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorus and Sulfur
      The atomic orbitals of nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur can hybridize in the same way as those of carbon.
    • 1.6: Lone Pair Electrons and Bonding Theories
      The chemical reactivity of lone pair electrons can be determined from the identity of the orbital they occupy.  This concept will be further refined when we study aromaticity.
    • 1.7: A Review of Isomerism
      Isomers are molecules which contain the same number and type of atoms, but with different arrangements. The arrangement can be different due to the order the atoms are bonded together or due to their arrangement in space.
    • 1.8: Enantiomers and the Tetrahedral Carbon
      A classification within isomerism is whether two isomers are superimposable mirror-images of each other. This can have an impact on reactivity and an important effect on organic molecules.
    • 1.9: Polar Covalent Bonds - Dipole Moments
      Mathematically, dipole moments are vectors; they possess both a magnitude and a direction. The dipole moment of a molecule is therefore the vector sum of the dipole moments of the individual bonds in the molecule. If the individual bond dipole moments cancel one another, there is no net dipole moment.
    • 1.10: Organic Acids and Organic Bases
      In the absence of pKa values, the relative strength of an organic acid can be predicted based on the stability of the conjugate base that it forms.  The acid that forms the more stable conjugate base will be the stronger acid.  The common factors that affect the conjugate base's stability are 1) the size and electronegativity of the the atom that has lost the proton, 2) resonance effects, 3) inductive effects, and 4) solvation effects.
    • 1.11: Noncovalent Interactions Between Molecules
      In contrast to intramolecular forces, such as the covalent bonds that hold atoms together in molecules and polyatomic ions, intermolecular forces hold molecules together in a liquid or solid. Intermolecular forces are generally much weaker than covalent bonds.  The most common intermolecular forces in organic chemistry are from strongest to weakest are hydrogen bonds, dipole-dipole interactions, and London Dispersion (van der Waals) forces.


    1: Introduction to Organic Chemistry is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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