Organic Chemistry Secrets
Better Organic Chemistry Grades-Less Effort
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Our Homework Help Secrets are not for everyone.
If you are among the gifted few with total recall and a photographic
memory... Then you can memorize your way to an A without
understanding the fundamentals.
I am not among the gifted few... So... I had to learn organic chemistry the "old
fashioned way"... I had to understand it step-by-step.
Along the way I have learned some "Secrets" about how to understand the
basics of Organic Chem without excessive memorization. Check out the different
specific topics below to access these Organic Chemistry Homework Help Secrets.
Fundamental to understanding Organic Chemistry is a clear and thorough
understanding of the Atomic Structure of the four main elements
involved. If you have not learned our Secrets of the Atomic Structure
of the Elements, please review the Chemistry Help
section of our website before continuing on to the Homework Secrets in this section.
Organic Chemistry Dictionary
To help you understand our Organic Homework Help Secrets we have put together an
Organic Chemistry Dictionary of the key definitions of all the important
terms and words you will need to master this special branch of Chemistry.
Click Here to find the definitions of key
terms
What is Organic Chemistry ?
Organic Chemistry is the chemistry of Carbon which makes up roughly
fifty percent of all living (organic) matter. Carbon, when it bonds with
the other three most common organic elements - Hydrogen, Oxygen and
Nitrogen, forms all the various compounds that collectively are referred
to as Organic Compounds. These compounds and their reactions with one
another make up Organic Chemistry.
Click Here for an Organic Tutorial
Organic Functional Groups
The secret to understanding Organic Chemistry is first to understand the
atomic structure of the central organic element Carbon and the
associated organic elements Hydrogen, Oxygen and Nitrogen.
When you master these concepts, you will have the foundation to
understand how these bonds form to make up the different Functional
Groups that distiguish organic compounds from other chemical compounds.
These Organic Functional Groups, which include the -OH group for Alcohols and -
NH2 group for Amines, is what distinguishes organic compounds from
other chemical compounds.
In this section you will learn step by step how the different functional
groups are formed and what their distinctive properties are.
Click Here for a clear explanation of the
Organic Functional Groups
 Organic Compounds
Organic Compounds can be divided into 10 major categories based on
Functional Groups. These 10 major functional groups are Hydrocarbons (subdivided into Alkanes and Alkenes), Alcohols, Amines, Ethers, Aldehydes,
Keytones, Organic Acids, Esters, Amides and Aromatic Compounds. The
sections below discuss the secrets to understanding and remembering the
different Organic Compounds.
Alkanes - When the only elements
involved in the organic compound are Carbon and Hydrogen the resulting
class of compounds is called Hydrocarbons. When the only bond
types formed are single bonds then the resulting Hydrocarbons are called
Alkanes.
Click Here for a clear explanation of Alkanes
Alkenes - The only difference
between Alkanes and Alkenes is that Alkenes are Hydrocarbons with at
least one carbon-carbon double bond. So, Alkenes are compounds
containing only Carbon and Hydrogen which have at least one carbon-carbon double bond.
Click Here to learn about Alkenes
Alcohols - When the elements making
up an organic compound are Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen and when only
single bonds are involved, the Organic Compounds formed are referred to
as Alcohols and the Functional Group is -OH, which is referred to as the
"O H" Group.
Click Here to learn about Alcohols
Amines - When the Oxygen of the -OH
functional group of Alcohols is replaced by Nitrogen the functional
group becomes -NH2 and the compounds are called Amines.
Click Here to learn about Amines
Ethers - When the elements that
make up the organic compound are Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen and the
bonds are all single bonds, but the bonds are arranged such that there is
at least one internal C-O-C bond then the compounds are called
Ethers.
Click Here for a summary of Ethers
Aldehydes - When the elements making
up the organic compound are Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen and when there
is a terminal (at the end of the molecule) double bond between carbon
and oxygen, the Functional Group becomes O=C-H and the compounds are
called Aldehydes.
Click Here to understand the structure of Aldehydes
Keytones - When the elements making
up the organic compound are once again Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen and
when there is an internal (within the molecule) carbon-oxygen double
bond, the Functional Group becomes O=C-C and the compounds are called
Keytones.
Click Here for clear explanation of Keytones
Organic Acids - When the elements
making up the organic compound are Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen and when
there is a terminal combination of a carbon-oxygen double bond linked to an "O H" group, the Functional Group becomes O=C-OH and the compounds
are called Organic Acids.
Click Here to learn about Organic Acids
Esters - When Organic Acids have
the -OH in the terminal O=C-OH replaced by an alcohol group -C-OH the resulting
compound has the terminal group O=C-O-C- and is called an Ester.
Click Here for an explanation of Esters
Amides - When Organic Acids have
the -OH in the terminal O=C-OH replaced by an Amine group (-C-
NH2), then the resulting compound has the terminal group O=C-
NH2 and is called an Amide.
Click Here for an explanation of Amides
Aromatic Compounds - When only
the elements Carbon and Hydrogen are involved and the carbon-carbon bonds are
arranged such that a ring of carbon-carbon bonds is formed, the
compounds are called Cyclic Alkanes. There is a very special class of
compounds that are formed when Cyclic Alkanes become Cyclic Alkenes and
every other carbon-carbon bond is a double bond. This special class of
very stable Hydrocarbons is referred to as Aromatic Compounds.
Click Here for a clear explanation of Aromatic Compounds
Click here for a building-block approach to Atomic Structure
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