CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIC CHEMISTRY

I. OBJECTIVES

1. State the meaning and importance of Organic Chemistry

2. Compare organic from inorganic compound
3. Explain and give the uses of organic compounds
4. Explain and illustrate the structure and properties of organic compounds

II. LEARNING CONTENT

1.1 DEFINITION AND IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY

Organic chemistry is actually the branch of chemistry that concerns with the study of
carbon compounds and only a few other elements like hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen
and also contain sulfur, some halogen elements (fluorine, chlorine, bromine, or
iodine) or even phosphorus. Since all living matters contain carbon compounds, we
call the study of carbon compounds the chemistry of living matter. The term organic
is derived from the word organism, which is associated with living matter and signify
life.

Organic compounds are everywhere around us. They are present in our foods, flavors
and fragrances; in our medicines, toiletries, and cosmetics; in our plastics, films, fibers,
and resins; in our paints, varnishes, and glues; and of course, in our body and the
bodies of all other living organisms. It was Lavoisier, who first showed that carbon is
the essential element in an organic compound

History

Friedrich Wöhler (1800-1882), a German chemist. He was the

first to create an organic substance from inorganic chemicals; in
1828 he heated ammonium cyanate, an inorganic compound
(salt), and created urea, a compound found in animal urine
without utilizing an animal kidney of liver. Thus he disproved the
belief that organic substances could be formed only in living
things. Wöhler experimented with almost every chemical
element known in his day. He isolated the elements aluminum
and beryllium, and discovered calcium carbide.

Wöhler was born near Frankfurt am Main, a city in Western Germany and in 1823
received a medical degree from Heidelberg University. His interest in chemistry led
him to study for a year with the Swedish chemist Jons Jakob Berzelius in 1815
proposed that organic compounds could not be prepared in the laboratory and could
be produced by some mysterious force existing in the living organism, which forced
was termed as Vital Force which comes from a Latin word, “vita”, means life.
Returning to Germany, Wöhler taught in technical schools and, after 1836, at the
University of Gottingen. Once scientists believed that organic compound were
thought to require a vital force or life principle to be actively engaged in their
synthesis. The vital force theory is a force possessed by all organic matter that
governed the behavior of living substances but could not be duplicated by chemists in
the laboratory.
O

K/Ag+ OCN- + NH4+ Cl- K/Ag+ Cl - + NH4+ OCN- rearranges H2N-C-NH2

Inorganic compound upon heating Urea

Thereon, new synthetic compounds were synthesized from inorganic substances and
many of these compounds are important in everyday life.

The following are several reasons for a separate study of the compounds of
carbon.

1. Organic compounds are more numerous than inorganic compounds. There are
many more compounds that include the element carbon, over 10 million
organic compounds were already known with more than 100,000 new
compounds being produced every year.

2. The maintenance of life in plants and animals, including ourselves, is

dependent upon millions of organic chemical reactions taking place within
ourselves and in all other forms of living matter.

3. Carbon atoms can form stable bonds with one another to form long,
continuous, chainlike structures containing many carbons atoms. This property
is known catenation. Catenation is the ability of a chemical element to form a
long chain-like structure via a series of covalent bonds. Catenation occurs most
readily in carbon, which forms covalent bonds with other carbon atoms.
Catenation is the reason for the presence of a large number of organic
compounds in nature. Carbon is most well known for its properties of
catenation, with organic chemistry essentially being the study of catenated
carbon structures (otherwise known as catenae)

4. Many organic compounds exhibit the phenomenon of isomerism which means

that organic substances may contain the same number and kinds of atoms and
yet represent entirely different substances.

SOME SOURCES OF ORGANIC COMPOUNDS

Sources Organic Compounds or Mixture

Animals Fats or Proteins
Plants Starch, cellulose
Coal (destructive distillation) Coal tar, benzene, phenol, Naphthalene
Wood (destructive distillation) Wood alcohol, acetone, acetic acid
 Petroleum (fractional Naphtha, gasoline, kerosene, Mineral oil,
distillation) Vaseline
Fermentation processes Ethyl alcohol, acetone, butyl alcohol
Laboratory synthesis Almost unlimited numbers and
types of compounds

1.2 COMPARING ORGANIC AND INORGANIC COMPOUNDS

The physical and chemical properties of organic compounds show many similarities as
well as differences when compared to the properties of inorganic compounds. Most
inorganic compounds are salts. There are more than forty thousand salts, but less
than one hundred common oxides, bases, and acids combined. Since most inorganic
compounds are salts, only salts need to be contrasted to organic compounds. All
organic compounds contain carbon, while most inorganic compounds do not contain
carbon. Carbon compounds consist of nonpolar molecules with stable intramolecular
covalent bonds, but with weak intermolecular attractions. In contrast, ionic
compounds are held together by strong electrostatic attractions between positive and
negative ions (see table below). Although organic and inorganic compounds have
certain differences, the laws of chemical change, atomic structure, atomic bonding,
kinetic molecular theory, chemical calculations, equations, and concepts of solutions
apply to both organic and inorganic chemistry.

A Comparison of Organic and Inorganic Compounds

Properties Inorganic Organic

Examples NaCl, Na2CO3, Gasoline, synthetic fibers, drugs, fats
CuSO4
Physical state High-melting- Solid, liquid, (at room temperature)
point solid Gas or low-melting-point solid
(usually above (usually below 300oC)
300oC)
Electrical Conductivity Conductor when Do not form ions; Non-conductor
aqueous or
melted
Bonding Ionic Covalent
Number of elements All Two to six nonmetals
Number of atoms in a Few--less than 20 Very large[range]--from few to
molecule atoms several million atoms
Melting point High Low
Boiling point High Low
Solubility Soluble in H2O; Soluble in non-Polar solvents, Some
insoluble in CCl4 in H2O,
Insoluble in water; soluble in organic
solvents such as CCl4
 Speed of chemical React rapidly; React slowly; require heat and a
reactions reaction between catalyst to break covalent bonds
mobile ions; within the molecules
require little heat
and no catalyst
Flammability Non-Flammable Flammable
Quantity 200,000 10,000,000 or more
Volatility (tendency to High volatility Low volatility
form a gas)
Heat stability Decompose at Decompose at high temperature, if
low temperature; at all; do not char (no carbon)
char easily
Combustibility Do not burn Typically burn in air

1.3 USES OF ORGANIC COMPOUNDS

Use Example
1. Plastic
- used in soft flexible films for food
packaging and in molded rigid products
such as pipes, fibers, upholstery, and
bristles.

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)

2. Explosive

- is a chemical explosive that has

often been used in warfare. The
purified material is a yellow, crystalline
substance and is very toxic. Its formal
name is 2-methyl-1,3,5-
trinitrobenzene, in accordance with the
nomenclature of the International
Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry
(IUPAC). First synthesized by Joseph TNT (trinitrotoluene)
Wilbrand in 1863, its large-scale
production began in Germany in 1891.
The explosive yield of TNT is considered
the standard measure for the strength
of bombs and other explosives.
3. Drugs

- is an acetyl derivative of salicylic

acid that is a white, crystalline, weakly
acidic substance, with melting point
137°C. It is useful in the relief of
headache and muscle and joint aches.
Aspirin is also effective in reducing
fever, inflammation, and swelling and
thus has been used for treatment of Acetyl Salicylic or Aspirin
rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatic fever,
and mild infection. Large doses cause
acid-base imbalance and respiratory
disturbances and can be fatal,
especially in children. Acetaminophen
(known by trade name Tylenol), which
does not cause gastric irritation but
does lower fever and relieve pain, is
often substituted for Aspirin.
4. Anesthetics

- An anesthetic stops you feeling

pain during a medical surgical
procedure (an operation). Modern
anesthetics are complex, they make
you unconscious, paralyze you and take
away pain.
Ether
5. Aerosol propellant

- a propellant used for aerosol

sprays; has anaesthetic and
arrhythmogenic activity if inhaled in
high concentration.
- Management of pain associated
with injections CFCl3
(Trichloromonofluoromethane)
6. Insecticide

- DDT is an organochlorine
insecticide used mainly to control
mosquito-borne
malaria; use on crops has generally
been replaced by less persistent
insecticides. It
was extensively used during the Second
World War among Allied troops and
certain
civilian populations to control insect
typhus and malaria vectors, and was DDT
then extensively used as an agricultural (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane)
insecticide after 1945. DDT was banned
for use in Sweden in 1970 and in the
United States in 1972.
7. Antiseptic

- An antiseptic is a substance which

inhibits the growth and development
of microorganisms. For practical
purposes, antiseptics are routinely
thought of as topical agents, for
application to skin, mucous
membranes, and inanimate objects,
although a formal definition includes
agents which are used internally, such
as the urinary tract antiseptics.

Ethanol (70%)
8. Lozenges

- A small, medicated candy

intended to be dissolved slowly in the
mouth to lubricate and soothe irritated
tissues of the throat.
Menthol (mint)
9. Food preservatives

- is a colorless crystalline solid and

the simplest aromatic carboxylic acid.
The name derived from gum benzoin,
which was for a long time the only
source for benzoic acid. This weak acid
and its salts are used as a food
preservative. Benzoic acid is an
important precursor for the synthesis
of many other organic substances.
Benzoic acid
 10. Mimeographic fluid

- Simplest of the alcohols, chemical

formula CH3OH. Once produced by
destructive distillation of wood, it is
now usually made from the methane in
natural gas. Methanol is an important
industrial material; its derivatives are
used in great quantities for making a
vast number of compounds, among
them many important synthetic dyes,
resins, drugs, and perfumes. It is also
used in automotive antifreezes, in
rocket fuels, and as a solvent. It is Methanol
flammable and explosive. A clean-
burning fuel, it may substitute (at least
in part) for gasoline. It is also used for
denaturation of ethanol. A violent
poison, it causes blindness and
eventually death when drunk.

1.4 FORMS OF CARBON

What are the elemental forms of Carbon?

The usual answer is that pure carbon is found in graphite and diamond. The forms
have been known for centuries, and it was generally believed that they are the only
forms of carbon having extended networks of C atoms in well-defined structures.

A. Amorphous Carbon
It has no definite crystalline shape.
Examples of amorphous carbon are coke, charcoal,
boneblack or animal charcoal, and activated charcoal.
NOTE: Activated charcoal has the property of
adsorbing gases and colored compounds. It is
sometimes administered to patients in attempt to
adsorb gases in the intestinal tract.
B. Diamond
One of the allotropic forms of carbon and is the hardest
substance found in nature.
“Allotropy” means the existence of an element in two
or more forms in the same physical phase.
Diamond is densest form of carbon, about 3.5 times as
dense as water.
The rigidity and compactness of its structure makes its
structure makes it a non-electrolyte.

Uses of Diamond:
1. Because of its extreme hardness, diamond is used for cutting, drilling and
grinding marble or glass.
2. It is used as a long-lasting phonograph needle.
3. It is a precious gem for jewelries.
4. Used as a drills for digging tunnels such as black diamonds.

C. Graphite
It is another allotropic form of carbon which is
remarkable for its softness.
It is easily crumbled and has a greasy fuel.
It is fairly good conductor of electricity.

Uses of Graphite
1. It is utilized for coating the molds used in metal
casting
2. It is used to increase the carbon content of steel and to make clay graphite
crucibles in which steel and other metals are melted.
3. It is used as lubricating substance.
4. Mixture of graphite powder and clay is used as “lead” of pencils.
5. Synthetic graphite electrodes are used in the electrolysis of salt water for
making chlorine and sodium hydroxide.
6. It is used in nuclear reactors.

The scientific world was startled in 1985 when Richard E. Smalley of Rice University,
Houston, Texas, and Harry W. Kroto of the University of Sussex, United Kingdom, and
their coworkers announced that they had isolated microscopic quantities of a new
form of carbon from soot, the black material that collects when carbon-containing
materials are burned in limited quantities of oxygen.
D. Buckminsterfullerene or Buckyball , C60
This new form of carbon has the molecular
formula C60 and a structure that resembles
a soccer ball.
It has 60 vertices and 32 faces, 12 of them
pentagons and 20 of them hexagons.
The molecule reminded its discoverers of a
geodesic dome, a structure invented by an
innovative American engineer and
philosopher Richard Buckminster Fuller.

Uses: Nanotubes

Nanotechnology today is growing very rapidly and has infinite applications in almost
everything we do. Carbon nanotubes (aka CNTs) are made from graphene sheets
consisting of a single atomic layer of carbon atoms in a honeycomb framework that
can be rolled into a tube measuring about a nanometer, or one billionth of a meter, in
diameter.

First discovered under an electron microscope over a half a century ago, carbon
nanotubes are one of the most sought-after materials today.

The tiny structures are used in dozens of applications that touch nearly every industry,
including aerospace, electronics, defense, automotive, energy, construction, and even
fashion. The medicine we take, food we eat, chemicals we use, car we drive and much
much more.

At this scale, these cylindrical molecules defy the classic laws of physics with
exceptional properties. Carbon nanotubes have excellent electrical conductivity, the
ability to withstand high working temperatures, and the highest strength-to-weight
ratio of any known material.

III. LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Name: _________________________________ Date: ___________________

Course & Year : __________________________ Score: __________________

1. Give at least five examples of organic compounds as well as of inorganic

compounds.
2. Dichotomize the properties of organic compounds and inorganic compounds.

3. Why is carbon is unique among other elements that makes if form numerous
compounds?

4. What are carbon nanotubes and their applications?

IV. SELF-ASSESMENT

Name: _________________________________ Date: ___________________

Course & Year : __________________________ Score: __________________

1. We know that the term “organic” means different things to different people.
What does “organic” mean to chemists?
2. What makes an organic compound different from an inorganic compound?
3. Why is organic chemistry important to studying living organisms?
4. What are some examples of organic compounds given in the article?
5. What is an organic compound?
6. How is the term "organic" used among farmers and food stores today?
7. Why are carbon-based compounds lumped together as a separate subject
within the study of chemistry?
8. Is carbon a metal or a nonmetal?
9. Carbon's atomic number is six. What does that tell us about any carbon
atom?
10. What is carbon's electron shell configuration?
11. How many valence electrons does carbon have?
12. Will carbon as an atom interact with other atoms to form ionic or covalent
bonds?
13. In order to fill its outer shell, how many bonds will carbon make?
14. What are hydrocarbons?
15. Are hydrocarbons organic or inorganic molecules? Why?
16. Why can carbon form so many different types of compounds?
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VI. REFERENCES

Baum, Stuart J., et.al., (1986) Chemistry: A life Science Approach. New York: Mc
Millan Book Company.
Brown, William H. (1998) , Introduction to Organic Chemistry. Saunders College
Publishing
Carey, Francis A. and Robert C. Atkins (1996) Organic Chemistry 3rd ed., New York:
Mc Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Holum, John., et.al., (1995) Elements of General, Organic and Biological Chemistry.,
9th ed., New York: John Wiley and Sons Inc.,
Mc. Murry, John (1998) Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry 4th ed., Brookscole
Publishing Company.
Sylianco, Clara. ( 1980) Principles of Organic Chemistry 7th ed. Department of
Chemistry University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City. Philippines
Graphic Arts Inc.,