Organic and Biochem, Part

1SOL Objective CH. 6

SOL CH. 6 This year, we will have an Organic Chemistry

and Biochemistry “flavor” from time to time. Organic = any compound which contains

carbon. Organic compounds usually also contain H

and some combination of O, N, S, P, Cl and other elements.

Biochem = study of organic compounds which appear in living things.

Organic Products Many of you probably buy organic

products from grocery stores (I do too sometimes).

This means something different from Organic Chemistry.

Organic products do not use chemical fertilizers or pesticides or irradiation (used to prevent onions and potatoes from sprouting) or chemical additives (to enhance taste or appearance).

Organic Products ≠ Organic Chemistry

Many people prefer organic products for lots of reasons. People think they are eating healthier and not putting “chemicals” into their body by using organic products.

However, scientific evidence (so far) proves that there is little difference in organic produce in terms of taste, safety and nutritional value compared to “non-organic produced” food.

Organic Compounds All organic compounds contain C. However, not all organic compounds

come from nature or living things. For example, some medicines come

from natural products. Some medicines were created by scientists in a lab.

Natural vs Synthetic Penicillin was originally isolated from a

fungus and found to have antibiotic (kills bacteria) properties. However, the demand for penicillin soon outgrew the ability to get it from fungi and organic chemists figured out how to synthesize penicillin in the lab.

Regardless of whether it is found in nature or synthesized in a lab, all penicillin must have the same properties and be exactly the same in every way.

Important Pharmaceuticals

Pharmaceuticals are any chemical substances used for the diagnosis, cure, treatment or prevention of disease.

Common pharmaceuticals you should know Aspirin Vitamins Insulin

All of the above are organic chemicals. All of the above can occur naturally or can be

synthesized in the lab.

Aspirin Aspirin occurs naturally in willow tree bark. Hippocrates (father of modern medicine) was

known to make a powder of willow bark and leaves to cure headaches and fevers as early as 400 BC.

Aspirin was first isolated chemically in Germany in 1897 at Bayer, a chemical company.

Aspirin is quite easy to make in the lab. Many pharmaceutical products are very difficult to make.

5 Branches of Chemistry Inorganic Chemistry is the study of compounds which

do not contain C. Organic Chemistry is the study of compounds which

DO contain C. Biochemistry is the study of chemical processes which

exist in living organisms. Analytical Chemistry is the study of the separation of

mixtures of compounds and identifying and quantifying those compounds.

Physical Chemistry is the study of physics as it applies to chemical systems at the atomic and molecular level.

Hydrocarbons The simplest organic compounds are called

hydrocarbons. These compounds ONLY contain C and H. Hydrocarbons are also called “fossil fuels”

(because they come from decomposed living things) and “petrochemicals” (because they are found in petroleum).

Petroleum is a mixture of hydrocarbons found in geologic formations beneath the Earth’s surface.

HC = Hydrocarbons Petroleum (also known as crude oil) is

separated through a physical process called distillation. Oil and gas, and a lot of other comounds, are in the mixture known as “petroleum.”

In distillation, you boil a mixture of hydrocarbons. Since each hydrocarbon has a unique boiling point, they can be separated from each other in this way. (Test alert!)

The simplest HC is methane. Methane’s formula is CH4. Learn this!

Other Distillation Products

Gases from Petroleum Ethane, C2H6, used primarily to produce ethene

(also known as ethylene) which is used to produce plastics, such as polyethylene, and is also used force the ripening of fruit.

Propane, C3H8, also known as LP gas (liquified petroleum), can be stored as a liquid at low pressures. Used as fuel for gas grills.

Butane, C4H10, can also be liquified easily at low pressures. Used as fuel in cigarette lighters.

Other Distillation Products

Liquids from Petroleum Gasoline (primarily octane, C8H18, but contains

HC with 5-12 carbons). Kerosene (contains HC with 12-16 carbons).

Used for lamps, stoves and portable heaters. Fuel Oil (contains HC with 15-18 carbons).

Used for heating houses. Also used in diesel engines.

Lubricating Oil (contains HC with 16-20 carbons). Use as motor oil in car engines.

Other Distillation Products

Solids from Petroleum Residue (solids remaining with > 20 carbons

after distillation); used to make asphalt. Paraffin wax (20-40 carbons). Has a variety of

uses, but used to make candles which burn at a very low temp (40-50°C). It is white and odorless and tasteless. James Chadwick used it in experiments to identify the neutron.

Liquid paraffin is called mineral oil.

Types of HC Alkanes: only contain C-C single bonds.

Known as saturated HC. It is saturated because it has the maximum number of hydrogens bonded to the carbons.

Alkenes: contains at least 1 C=C double bond.

Alkynes: contains at least 1 CΞC triple bond. Alkenes and alkynes are unsaturated HC,

because more H could be bonded to the C atoms.

Polymers Large molecule composed of repeating units

of simple molecules (called monomers). Think about Legos. Each block is a

monomer. When you hook a bunch of blocks together, you get a large chain (the polymer).

There are two types of polymers (more on this in a later unit). Natural Synthetic

Polymers Natural Polymers

Proteins (monomer = amino acids) Starch and Cellulose (monomer = sugar molecules) DNA and RNA (monomer = purine and pyrimidine bases)

Synthetic Polymers Plastics

polyethylene (PE) also known as polythene polyvinylchloride (PVC) polystyrene also known as Styrofoam Sodium polyacrylate (the absorbent polymer in Huggies diapers)

Fibers (nylon, rayon, polyester) Kevlar Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene)

The EndWhat Did you Learn?