Intro to Organic Chemistry: Study with Video Lessons, Practice Problems & Examples

Organic chemistry is the study of carbon-containing compounds, essential for understanding biological systems. It focuses on molecules primarily composed of carbon and hydrogen, known as hydrocarbons. The relevance of organic chemistry extends to everyday products, such as hairspray, and even harmful substances like nerve gases. Key concepts include functional groups, isomerism, and the role of organic molecules in biochemistry. Understanding these principles is crucial for exploring the chemistry of life and its applications in various fields.

Organic molecules in your everyday life.

Hey everyone, so we're going to start off this course by first talking about the relevance of organic chemistry. At this point, you've taken the course as necessary in general chemistry where you learned about different concepts such as the elements of the periodic table, stoichiometry, titrations, even electrochemistry. The good thing is a majority of this information is not really going to transfer over to organic chemistry. There are only going to be a few concepts mainly around periodic trends that are going to carry over from general chemistry. Right now, don't worry about them too much. We'll cover them when we get to those ideas. Now, back to the relevance of organic chemistry. Well, organic chemistry itself is the chemistry of life. It consists of the study of molecules that are typically created and used by biological systems. So, organic chemistry is important because it involves our everyday lives. If we take a look at this first image, we have the ingredients of a hairspray bottle and I've zeroed in on 4 organic molecules that are found within the ingredients. Right now these molecules don't seem like anything you might recognize. You don't know the number of elements housed within each molecule, but you'll learn about these kinds of ideas and how to interpret a molecule like this later on. But just realize right now that something as simple as a hair bottle is heavily involved in organic chemistry. Now, there are some destructive applications to organic chemistry. Here we have the creation of nerve gases. Here I've circled acetylcholine, acetic acid, and choline itself. These organic molecules are interacting with a biological system here. This is a way of showing how organic chemistry is the chemistry of life, and we're talking about how chemistry interacts with biological systems that also branches off into what we call biochemistry. We're not going to delve too deeply into biochemistry, but just realize that biochemistry is kind of like an extension of these organic chemistry ideas that we're going to discover and talk about this semester. Alright. So for right now just realize that organic chemistry, albeit new to you, is highly relevant in this course and in everyday life.

What is an organic molecule?

So let's just go into recognizing what an organic molecule is. Technically, there are actually a lot of definitions of what an organic molecule is based on the year you're talking about. Back then, they used to have a much different definition. Some books will even say some things that are different. But the majority of the consensus is that an organic molecule, any molecule that contains both carbon and hydrogen, obviously. We know that the chemistry of life is basically built on carbon, at least on Earth, and carbon and hydrogen. The reason I said the whole Earth thing is because some people are like, "Oh, aliens are made out of, like, silicon or something," but, like, whatever. The biology of life has to do with carbons. And then an organic molecule that contains a mixture of hydrogen and carbon only, it doesn't have any other atoms, would be called, you guys know that one? You should know that one. A hydrocarbon.

Identifying organic molecules

So hopefully what you said was that letter 'A' is definitely organic. So I'm just going to put an 'O' with a checkbox, and it is because it's made out of carbon and hydrogen. Perfect. Is it also a hydrocarbon? So, I'm going to put the smallest form of carbon called methane. So you might know methane smells bad. It's released like in gas, so sorry. Too much information. But whatever. That is an organic molecule.

How about this next one here? Hopefully, you said that yes, this is organic. Because once again, it has carbon and it has hydrogen. Is it a hydrocarbon? No. This would not be a hydrocarbon. The reason is that it has an oxygen there. See how I have an atom that is not a carbon or a hydrogen? So that means that this is considered just an organic molecule. In fact, this is acetone. So if you, maybe you women use acetone to take your nail polish off, whatever, I hate that smell. It's disgusting. That's what the molecule looks like. We're going to be learning about a lot of really cool molecules. At least, I think they're cool. I have to think they're cool. I'm a tutor. But they are really cool. Hopefully, you'll get to know them too. Don't memorize these names yet. I'm just giving you some information for later.

Then finally, this last one, hopefully, what you said is that this was not organic and also it was not a hydrocarbon. The reason is that I do have a carbon here, but I do not have a hydrogen. There are no hydrogens, so this is not an organic molecule. In fact, this is what we consider can be a little confusing, inorganic carbon, like not organic. This would be a form of inorganic carbon because it doesn't have any hydrogens at all. In fact, this is _CO2 or carbon dioxide. So carbon dioxide, you know that's like a greenhouse gas. It goes into the air. That's considered inorganic. We would learn about this a little bit more in gen chem because it has to do more with inorganic and then for organic, we would deal more with the molecules that have hydrogens on them. That's a general rule.

Here’s what students ask on this topic:

What is organic chemistry and why is it important?

Organic chemistry is the study of carbon-containing compounds, which are essential for understanding biological systems. It focuses on molecules primarily composed of carbon and hydrogen, known as hydrocarbons. The importance of organic chemistry extends to everyday products, such as hairspray, and even harmful substances like nerve gases. Key concepts include functional groups, isomerism, and the role of organic molecules in biochemistry. Understanding these principles is crucial for exploring the chemistry of life and its applications in various fields, including medicine, environmental science, and industrial processes.

What are hydrocarbons and why are they significant in organic chemistry?

Hydrocarbons are organic molecules that consist solely of carbon (C) and hydrogen (H) atoms. They are significant in organic chemistry because they form the basic framework for more complex organic compounds. Hydrocarbons can be classified into different types, such as alkanes, alkenes, and alkynes, based on the types of bonds between carbon atoms. Understanding hydrocarbons is fundamental for studying more complex molecules and reactions in organic chemistry, as they serve as the building blocks for many biological and synthetic compounds.

What are functional groups in organic chemistry?

Functional groups are specific groups of atoms within molecules that have characteristic properties and chemical reactivity. They are the reactive parts of molecules and determine the types of chemical reactions that the molecule can undergo. Common functional groups include hydroxyl (-OH), carbonyl (C=O), carboxyl (-COOH), amino (-NH₂), and alkyl groups. Recognizing and understanding functional groups is crucial for predicting the behavior of organic molecules in chemical reactions and for synthesizing new compounds.

How does isomerism play a role in organic chemistry?

Isomerism is the phenomenon where two or more compounds have the same molecular formula but different structures or arrangements of atoms. In organic chemistry, isomerism is important because it explains the diversity of organic compounds. There are different types of isomerism, including structural isomerism (different connectivity of atoms) and stereoisomerism (different spatial arrangement of atoms). Understanding isomerism helps in identifying and distinguishing between different compounds, predicting their properties, and understanding their reactivity.

What is the relationship between organic chemistry and biochemistry?

Organic chemistry and biochemistry are closely related fields. Organic chemistry focuses on the study of carbon-containing compounds, while biochemistry deals with the chemical processes within and related to living organisms. Many of the molecules studied in biochemistry, such as proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and lipids, are organic molecules. Understanding the principles of organic chemistry is essential for exploring biochemical pathways, enzyme mechanisms, and the molecular basis of life. This relationship is crucial for advancements in fields like medicine, pharmacology, and biotechnology.