ORGANIC VS. INORGANIC COMPOUNDS

Another way of classifying chemical compounds…

Let’s Recap...• WE can classify substances as Acids and Bases• H in front of the formula = Acid• OH at the end of the formula = Base• If the substance is neither = a SALT• WE can classify substances as IONIC or COVALENT

• Ionic = metal and a non-metal bonded (transfer e-)

• Covalent= 2 non-metals bonded ( share e-)

Every compound in the world is classified as either Organic, or Inorganic.

• Did you know that well over 50% of all known compounds on earth are Organic compounds??

ORGANIC COMPOUNDS•Organic compounds contain carbon (C) and usually hydrogen (H)

•Sometimes other types of atoms are also attached, including: oxygen, halogens, and nitrogen

Is that why foods are called “organic”?

Organic actually derives from “coming from life”, because the compounds that plants and animals make are all C-compounds

This is not the meaning of organic foods though! In this case organic foods refer to being

produced without chemicals (ironically many of these chemicals are actually ORGANIC compounds!)

INORGANIC COMPOUNDS•DO NOT contain carbon and Hydrogen…

• NaS•Li F•CuCl2

•Carbon Monoxide (CO),and Carbon Dioxide (CO2), and Carbon Trioxide (CO3)•Compounds containing cyanide (CN-) ions•Compounds with an C and an H BUT the H is written first!! HCO3

Why are they so special?• Carbon has four electrons in its valence shell, which allows for more chemical bonding possibilities than any other element.• Long chains of carbons form petroleum and plastics

• Some cyclic (“circular”) rings of carbons form pesticides

The acetaminophen molecule:the active ingredient in Tylenol

There are 2 Types of Organic compounds.

•Hydrocarbons•Alcohols

Hydrocarbons• A hydrocarbon is an organic compound that contains

only carbon and hydrogen.• Hydrocarbons are based on a carbon “backbone”, or chain, with hydrogen atoms added on the sides

You know about hydrocarbons already!

• The simplest hydrocarbons are ones that you might recognize…• Methane (CH4)--- main component of

natural gas• Ethane (C2H6)--- also found in natural gas• Propane (C3H8) --- used as a fuel for BBQs• Butane (C4H10) --- an extremely flammable

fluid used in industrial torches• Octane (C8H18)---a combustible liquid in

gasoline• All hydrocarbons are flammable, and

most are liquids are room temperature

Alcohols• Alcohols are organic compounds with C, H and O.• The simplest alcohols are:

• Methanol (CH4O)--- used in labs as a solvent but causes blindness!

• Ethanol (C2H6O)---is a psychoactive drug (present in alcohol), but is now being considered as a fuel source

• Isopropyl alcohol (C3H8O)---rubbing alcohol used to sterilize cuts

• Alcohols are generally very flammable

ORGANIC OR NOT???

DNA

ORGANIC---DNA is has a sugar backbone, which consists of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen

ORGANIC OR NOT???

Vegetable Oil

ORGANIC--- oils and fats are long-chain carbon compounds, which are used by living things as a way of storing energy

ORGANIC OR NOT???

Sulphuric Acid

NOT! Sulphuric acid (H2SO4) is the strong acid found in car batteries, but doesn’t contain carbon and isn’t organic

ORGANIC OR NOT???

Corn starch

ORGANIC! Starch is produced by plants as a way of storing sugars that they don’t need right away

ORGANIC OR NOT???

Copper (II) Sulphate

NOT! Copper (II) sulphate is a beautiful blue crystal, but does not contain carbon and is definitely not organic!

Three different representations: 1. Structural formula- lists the elements and their

proportions in the order they are bonded

MethaneCH4

MethanolCH3OH

Acetic Acid (Vinegar)CH3COOH

Three different representations: 2. Ball-and-stick model- each element is given a

different colour and/or size and the picture shows how many and how the elements are bonded

Each black ball represent C… Each white ball represents H…The red ball represents O…

This is Ethanol! (alcohol group -0H)

Three different representations: 3. Space-filling model- similar to a ball-and-stick

model, but an animated model that shows how elements are connected

Heme- the iron-containing component of hemoglobin, C34H32FeN4O4

Methylisocyanate- a valuable synthetic component for biology CH3N=C=S