Organic Chemistry

• Hydrocarbon

  a compound containing only carbon and hydrogen atoms
• Saturated Compound

  a compound in which all of the bonds between carbon atoms are single bonds
• Unsaturated Compound

  a compound in which there is at least one double and/or triple bond between carbon atoms
• Functional Group

  an atom or a group of atoms that form the centre of chemical activity in the molecule
• Homologous Series


  a series of similar compounds which have the same functional group and have the same general formula, in which each member differs from the previous one by a single CH2 unit
• Structural isomers

  compounds having the same molecular formula but different structural formulae
• Halogenation


  alkanes to haloalkanes
• Hydrolysis 


  haloalkanes to alcohols
• Hydrogenation 


  addition of H2 to any alkene
• Halogenation


  addition of X2 (X = Cℓ, Br)
• Hydrohalogenation

  addition of HX to any alkene
• Hydration

  addition of H2O to any alkene
• Dehydrohalogenation 


  elimination of HX from any haloalkane
• Dehydration 


  elimination of H2O from any alcohol
• Esterification

  an acid-catalysed reaction between an alcohol and a carboxylic acid that produces an ester and water