All organic compounds consist of carbon

atom.
Properties of carbon atom:
-has 4 valence electrons.
-can form 4 covalent bonds.
C C
Single bond

Double bond

Triple bond

Structural formula shows how the

atoms in a molecule are bonded to
each other.
3 types of structural formula:
condensed structure
expanded structure
skeletal structure

2- Dimensional formula

Condensed Structure
Does not show single bonds between carbon and
hydrogen atoms, but double and triple bonds are
shown.
All atoms that are attached to a carbon are
written immediately after that carbon.
C4H9Cl

CH3CHClCH2CH3
(Condensed structure)

C4H8

CH3CH=CHCH3
(Condensed structure)

Examples:
ii) Cyclohexane, C6H12
H2C

H2
C
CH2

H2C
C
H2

iii) Aldehyde, CH3CHO

CH2
O
CH3CH

Expanded Structure
Expanded structures indicate how atoms
are attached to each other but are not
representations of the actual shapes of the
molecules.
H

C4H9Cl
Molecular
Formula
Expanded structure

H H

C C

C C

Cl

Examples:
i) Alcohol (C2H6O)

ii) Carboxylic acid (C3H6O2 )

H

OH

OH

Skeletal Structure
Shows only the CARBON SKELETON.
Hydrogen atoms are not written.
Other atoms such as O, Cl, N etc. are shown.
Bonds are represented by lines
i)

CH3CH(Cl)CH2CH3

=
Cl

ii)

H2C

CH2

H2C

CH2

Question
Expanded
Structure

Condensed
Structure

Skeletal
Structure

CH3(CH2)CCl(CH3)2
O

H H

CH3
C C CH
H H

CH3

3- Dimensional formula
( wedge dashed wedge line formula )

Describes how the atoms of a

molecule are arranged in
space.

Example : Bromomethane

or

or

Indication ::bonds that lie in the plane

:bonds that lie behind the plane
:bonds that project out of the plane

Br
H

Br
C

C
Br

Br

Classification of C atoms:
A carbon atom can be classified as
primary carbon (1o) bonded to 1 C
secondary carbon (2o) bonded to 2 C
tertiary carbon (3o) bonded to 3 C
quarternary carbon (4o) bonded to 4 C

Example:
1. The classification of carbon atoms

Exercise:
How many
a) 2 C atoms
b) 3o C atoms
c) 4o C atoms
d) 1o H atoms
are present ?
Answer:
a) 3 atoms
b) 3 atoms
c) 1 atom
d) 15 atoms

Example:
3. The classification of alcohol
4. The classification of haloalkanes
5. The classification of amines

11.3 FUNCTIONAL GROUPS AND

HOMOLOGOUS SERIES

Functional group is an atom or a group of atoms that determines the

chemical properties of a organic compound.
Why functional groups are important?
Functional groups are important for three reasons:
They are the units by which we divide organic compounds into classes.

They are sites of chemical reaction; a particular functional group, in

whatever compound it is found, undergoes the same types of chemical
reactions.
Functional groups serve as a basic for naming organic compounds.

Homologous are compounds belonging to the same

homologous series
A homologous series is a functional group of
compounds of similar structures and properties
with the same functional group.

Some important functional groups in organic compounds :-

Homologous
Series

Functional
group

General
Formula

Alkane

none

CnH2n+2

Alkene

C=C
(double bond)

CnH2n

CH2 = CH2

Ethene

Alkyne

CC
(triple bond)

CnH2n-2

CH CH

Ethyne

Example

CH4

Methane

CH3

Arene
(aromatic ring)

CnH2n-6
Methylbenzene

Alcohol

OH
(hydroxyl)

CnH2n+1
OH

Ether

OR
(alkoxy)

CnH2n+2O

CH3OCH3 Methoxymethane

Haloalkane

X
(halogen)

CnH2n+1X

CH3CH2Cl
Chloroethane

Aldehyde

(carbonyl)

CnH2nO

Ketone

(carbonyl)

CnH2nO

CH3CH2OH

Ethanol

CH3C=O

H
Ethanal
CH3C=O

CH3
Propanone

Carboxylic
acid

O
C

OH

CnH2nO2

Alkanoic acid

CH3C=O

OH
Ethanoic acid

Alkanoyl chloride

CH3C=O

Cl
Ethanoyl chloride

(carboxyl)
O

Acyl halide

X
C Cl
(acyl)

CnH2n+1
COCl

Ester

C O C
(ester)
O

Amide

NH2

(amide)
Amine

-NH2
(amino)

CH3COOCH3
Ethyl
ethanoate

CnH2nO2

Alkyl alkanoate

CnH2n+1
CONH2

- amide

CH3CONH2
Ethanamide

CnH2n+1 NH2

- amine

CH3NH2
Methanamine

Exercise 1:

Exercise 2:

Exercise 3:
Determine the functional groups of each structures

Alkoxy

Amino Carboxyl Hydroxyl Carbonyl

R O R`

RN

O
R C OH

R OH

R=O

Exercise 4:
Describe the functional groups in the following structures
1.

2.

3.

4.

Acyl chloride

Exercise 5:
Label the functional groups in the following structures
1.

2.

3.

Exercise 6:
Classify the following compounds into their respective families

1.

2.

3.
*