Organic chemistry begins with crude oil and the use of fractional distillation to separate out the hydrocarbons that make up the gloopy mixture – only then can we crack, reform and isomerise them to turn them into more useful molecules …
Getting to grips with the terminology
• can you explain the difference between aliphatic, alicyclic and aromatic hydrocarbons?
• how is a molecular formula different from a displayed or skeletal formula?
How to name an alkane
• a quick video tutorial on naming alkanes
Fractional distillation, cracking, isomerisation and reforming
We covered the fractional distillation of crude oil at GCSE but now we need to find out how the fractions are further refined to make them useful.
Why do we need to blend petrol?
It’s all about volatility and its propensity to auto-ignite …
Structural isomerism
There are three types of structural isomerism – find out everything here …
Explaining the difference between single and double bonds
Carbon’s electron configuration would suggest that at first sight that carbon should only be able to make two bonds but clearly this is not the case!
And what exactly is going on in a double C=C bond?
Free radical substitution reactions in alkanes
Alkanes are very stable molecules which means that they are very unreacitve – some would say rather boring – so we need extreme conditions to persuade them.