Unit Introduction

Welcome to Nature's Chemistry - where you'll discover how carbon atoms link together to create the incredible variety of compounds that surround us every day. This unit covers the building blocks of organic chemistry that you'll need for your exams.

From the petrol in cars to the alcohol in hand sanitiser, carbon compounds are everywhere. Understanding their patterns and behaviours will help you make sense of countless chemical reactions and properties.

Quick Tip: Think of carbon as nature's ultimate building block - it can form four bonds and create chains, rings, and complex structures that no other element can match!

Homologous Series

A homologous series is basically a family of compounds that all behave similarly and follow the same general formula pattern. Think of them like different generations of the same family - they share key characteristics but get bigger as you go along.

Here are the main families you need to know: Alkanes (CₙH₂ₙ₊₂), Alkenes (CₙH₂ₙ), Cycloalkanes (CₙH₂ₙ), Alcohols (CₙH₂ₙ₊₁OH), and Carboxylic Acids (CₙH₂ₙ₊₁COOH). Each formula tells you exactly how many hydrogens you'll have for any number of carbons.

When naming branched hydrocarbons, follow these steps: find the longest carbon chain, identify any branches, number the carbons to give branches the lowest numbers, then list branches alphabetically. Use the memory trick "Meth- Eth- Prop- But- Pent- Hex- Hept- Oct" for carbon chain lengths.

Isomers are compounds with identical molecular formulas but different structural arrangements - like having the same Lego pieces but building different shapes.

Exam Alert: Always check your general formulas by substituting in small values of n - if CₙH₂ₙ₊₂ gives you CH₄ when n=1, you're on the right track!

Saturated vs Unsaturated Compounds

Saturated compounds contain only single carbon-carbon bonds, whilst unsaturated compounds have at least one carbon-carbon double bond. It's like the difference between a completely filled car park (saturated) and one with empty spaces (unsaturated).

The test for unsaturation is brilliantly simple: add bromine water to your compound. If it goes from orange/brown to colourless, you've got double bonds present. No colour change means it's saturated.

Addition reactions happen when small molecules add across double bonds. The main ones are bromination (adding Br₂), hydrogenation (adding H₂), chlorination (adding Cl₂), and hydration (adding H₂O). These reactions are crucial for making everything from margarine to plastics.

Real World: Hydrogenation is how manufacturers turn liquid vegetable oils into solid margarine - they're literally adding hydrogen across double bonds!

Aromatic Compounds

Benzene (C₆H₆) is the star of aromatic chemistry, but it's not what you might expect. Despite looking like it has double bonds, benzene doesn't react with bromine water - it's actually got a ring of delocalised electrons that makes it incredibly stable.

Don't be fooled by benzene's structure drawings. Those alternating single and double bonds are misleading - benzene is actually more stable than alkenes because its electrons are spread out around the ring. This is why it doesn't undergo addition reactions like alkenes do.

Phenol is benzene with an -OH group attached, whilst phenyl refers to benzene with a hydrogen removed (so it can attach to other groups). These aromatic compounds form the basis of countless important molecules, from aspirin to explosives.

Memory Trick: Think of benzene as the "aristocrat" of hydrocarbons - it's too stable and posh to react with just anyone!

Alcohols - Structure and Types

Alcohols contain the hydroxyl functional group $-OH$ and follow the general formula CₙH₂ₙ₊₁OH. When you've got multiple -OH groups, you get diols $two -OH groups$ and triols $three -OH groups$ like glycerol.

The position of the -OH group determines what type of alcohol you have. Primary alcohols have -OH attached to a carbon that's only connected to one other carbon. Secondary alcohols have -OH on a carbon connected to two other carbons. Tertiary alcohols have -OH on a carbon connected to three other carbons.

This classification isn't just academic - it affects how alcohols react. Primary alcohols like propan-1-ol behave differently from secondary ones like propan-2-ol, especially in oxidation reactions you'll meet later.

Visualisation Tip: Think of primary, secondary, and tertiary as describing how "crowded" the carbon with -OH is - one neighbour, two neighbours, or three neighbours!

Properties of Alcohols

Alcohols have much higher melting and boiling points than equivalent alkanes because they can form hydrogen bonds. These are stronger intermolecular forces than the simple London dispersion forces in alkanes.

Ethanol beats ethane in the boiling point stakes because ethanol molecules stick together through hydrogen bonding between the -OH groups. Ethane molecules only have weak London forces, so they separate much more easily.

Solubility follows similar rules - alcohols dissolve well in water because both are polar and can hydrogen bond together. Alkanes can't hydrogen bond with water, so they don't dissolve. As alcohol molecules get larger, they become less soluble because the non-polar carbon chain starts to dominate.

As molecular size increases, you'll see flammability decrease, solubility decrease, and melting points increase - these trends appear in loads of exam questions!

Real World: This is why spirits like vodka $ethanol + water$ mix perfectly, but oil and water separate - it's all about those hydrogen bonds!

Carboxylic Acids

Carboxylic acids contain the carboxyl functional group $-COOH$ and have the general formula CₙH₂ₙCOOH. The carboxyl group is always at the end of the molecule, so you don't need to number its position when naming.

Ethanoic acid is the acid in vinegar, whilst butanoic acid has that distinctive smell of rancid butter. These acids are everywhere in nature and industry.

Carboxylic acids undergo neutralisation reactions with alkalis to form salts and water. For example, ethanoic acid + sodium hydroxide → sodium ethanoate + water. This is the same pattern as any acid-base reaction, just with organic compounds.

The salt names follow a pattern: the metal comes from the alkali, and the acid name changes from "-oic acid" to "-oate". So propanoic acid with potassium hydroxide gives potassium propanoate.

Exam Tip: Remember that carboxylic acids are weak acids - they only partially ionise in solution, unlike strong acids like hydrochloric acid!

Esters - Formation and Naming

Esters form when a carboxylic acid reacts with an alcohol in a condensation reaction called esterification. The general formula is CₙH₂ₙO₂, and they contain the functional group -COO-.

Naming esters follows a specific pattern: change the alcohol name to end in "-yl", change the acid name to end in "-oate", then put alcohol first and acid second. So methanol + ethanoic acid gives methyl ethanoate.

Here's the key: propanol + ethanoic acid = propyl ethanoate, whilst ethanol + butanoic acid = ethyl butanoate. The alcohol part always comes first in the name, even though we often write the formula with the acid part first.

Esters are responsible for many fruity smells and flavours - ethyl ethanoate smells like pear drops, whilst other esters give bananas, apples, and oranges their characteristic aromas.

Memory Trick: Think "Alcohol Always first" - both start with A, so alcohol comes first in ester names!

Ester Formation Mechanism

Esterification is a condensation reaction where the hydrogen from the carboxylic acid's -COOH group combines with the -OH from the alcohol to form water. What's left joins together to make the ester.

The reaction needs a concentrated sulfuric acid catalyst and is reversible. The reverse process is called hydrolysis - breaking the ester back down using water (usually with concentrated NaOH).

Don't confuse hydration and hydrolysis! Hydration adds water to a single molecule (like adding water across a double bond), whilst hydrolysis uses water to break apart a compound into two separate molecules.

This reversibility is crucial in biological systems - your body constantly makes and breaks esters in processes like fat metabolism and energy storage.

Quick Check: If you see water being formed in a reaction, it's condensation. If water is used up to break something apart, it's hydrolysis!

Making Esters in the Lab

The practical for making esters involves mixing an alcohol, carboxylic acid, and concentrated sulfuric acid catalyst, then heating in a water bath. You can't use a Bunsen burner because the reactants and products are highly flammable.

A wet paper towel condenser prevents the volatile reactants and products from escaping - you need to keep everything in the reaction mixture for maximum ester formation.

After heating, you add the mixture to sodium hydrogen carbonate solution which neutralises the sulfuric acid catalyst. The ester forms a separate layer on top because it's less dense and doesn't dissolve well in the aqueous layer.

Common ester combinations: butan-1-ol + benzoic acid = butyl benzoate, ethanol + methanoic acid = ethyl methanoate, propan-1-ol + ethanoic acid = propyl ethanoate. Each has its own distinctive smell.

Safety Note: Always use a water bath for heating organic compounds - they're usually flammable and have low boiling points!