Introduction to organic chemistry

Organic chemistry is quite an interesting topic,so prepare your mind as we look at the basics of this branch together.Please make sure you know these basics for they will be the frame of this topic in chemistry.

The first thing you would want to know is what organic chemistry is.Organic chemistry is simply the branch of chemistry that studies the compunds of carbon in living and non-living systems but excludes that of oxides,carbonates and carbides.

The other important term you need to know in the study of these compounds is the term hydrocarbon.A hydrocarbon is a compound comprising of hydrogen and carbon only,good examples that we shall look at later as we progress are alkanes and alkenes. However,note that,in the bonding of organic compounds, some other atoms can bond within their chains and these may include oxygen and halogens(group 7 elements of the periodic table).

The other term you need to know is what a homologous series is.So,a homologous series is a group of organic compounds having the same general formula and of the same functional group.In a homologous series,each member differs from the other by 'methane' group or rather differs by a -CH₂ group.A functional group is simply an atom,a bond or a group of atoms that determine the chemical properties of the organic compound.

Having looked at that,you also need to know that an organic compound can be either saturated or unsaturated. A saturated hydrocarbon is one that has no more multiple bonds between the carbon atoms in the hydrocarbon chain.This simply means that it can not be able to take in more atoms while an unsaturated is one that has one or more multiple bonds between carbon atoms in the hydrocarbon chain.In such hydrocarbons,more atoms can be added to the chain.

Alright right,there you have it for now.We shall look at the other part in the next post.Subscribe to get the latest topics and leave us a comment in the section below.