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Alkanes: Crash Course Organic Chemistry #6
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Alkanes: Crash Course Organic Chemistry #6

Crash Course Organic Chemistry Introduction

The introduction discusses the intriguing science behind candles and their connection to organic chemistry, particularly focusing on alkanes found in candle wax.

Faraday's Candle Tricks

  • Faraday's candle tricks are named after Michael Faraday, a British physicist who studied electrochemistry and electromagnetism.

Alkanes: The Wallflowers of Organic Molecules

  • Alkanes are nonreactive, nonpolar, hydrophobic compounds found in candle wax and fossil fuels like petroleum.

Importance of Alkanes in Various Applications

  • Alkanes play a crucial role in heating homes, fueling cars, and impacting the global economy through sources like crude oil.

Structural Analysis of Alkanes

This section delves into the structural composition of alkanes and their significance in various fractions obtained from distillation processes.

Distillation Process for Obtaining Chemical Compounds

  • Crude oil is distilled to separate compounds based on boiling points, yielding fractions like petroleum gas, octane for vehicles, and paraffin waxes for candles.

Significance of Different Fractions

  • Petroleum gas contains 2 to 4 carbon molecules used for heating homes and powering gas grills.
  • Middle fractions include octane and iso-octane crucial for fueling vehicles.
  • Paraffin waxes with longer carbon chains make up candles while residue forms asphalt for road construction.

Conformations of Ethane

Exploring the concept of conformations in ethane molecules through Newman projections and dihedral angles.

Understanding Conformers Through Rotation

  • Ethane molecules exhibit free rotation around single bonds leading to different conformations affecting stability.

Impact of Dihedral Angles on Stability

  • Dihedral angles influence torsional energy levels within conformers where eclipsed conformers have higher energy due to electron interactions causing strain.

Alkane Conformations and Cycloalkanes

In this section, the discussion revolves around alkane conformations, focusing on butane as an example. The concept of 3D structure representation in a 2D drawing using solid wedges and dashes is explained. Additionally, the different conformers of butane are explored along with their energy levels.

Alkane Conformations

  • Butane consists of a straight carbon chain with a zig-zag shape due to 109.5 degree angles between carbon atoms.
  • Presence of methyl groups in butane leads to increased crowding and steric hindrance during conformational changes.
  • Different conformer names are introduced based on the alignment of methyl groups, such as totally eclipsed, gauche, and anti conformers.

Cycloalkanes

  • Cycloalkanes form rings with unique properties compared to straight-chain alkanes.
  • Various sizes of cycloalkanes exist, with cyclopentane and cyclohexane being common examples.
  • Cyclobutane demonstrates angular strain due to its square-like structure, leading to ring strain.

Importance of Conformations

  • Conformations play a crucial role in molecule stability and chemical reactions by influencing reaction efficiency and product formation.
  • Understanding alkane conformations provides insights into molecular behavior beyond simple structures.
Video description

Alkanes are kind of the wallflowers of organic chemistry, but they still have important functions in the world around us. In this episode of Crash Course Organic Chemistry we’re building our knowledge of organic molecules by learning all about these so called couch potatoes from how they are separated from crude oil to how to use Newman projections to predict torsional strain and steric hinderance. We’ll also learn the names of some common conformers and get an introduction to cycloalkanes. Episode Sources: M. Faraday and W. Crooks, The Chemical History of a Candle, a Course of Lectures Delivered Before a Juvenile Audience at the Royal Institution, 1908. https://archive.org/details/chemicalhistoryo00faraiala/page/158 Series Sources: Brown, W. H., Iverson, B. L., Ansyln, E. V., Foote, C., Organic Chemistry; 8th ed.; Cengage Learning, Boston, 2018. Bruice, P. Y., Organic Chemistry, 7th ed.; Pearson Education, Inc., United States, 2014. Clayden, J., Greeves, N., Warren., S., Organic Chemistry, 2nd ed.; Oxford University Press, New York, 2012. Jones Jr., M.; Fleming, S. A., Organic Chemistry, 5th ed.; W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2014. Klein., D., Organic Chemistry; 1st ed.; John Wiley & Sons, United States, 2012. Louden M., Organic Chemistry; 5th ed.; Roberts and Company Publishers, Colorado, 2009. McMurry, J., Organic Chemistry, 9th ed.; Cengage Learning, Boston, 2016. Smith, J. G., Organic chemistry; 6th ed.; McGraw-Hill Education, New York, 2020. Wade., L. G., Organic Chemistry; 8th ed.; Pearson Education, Inc., United States, 2013. *** Watch our videos and review your learning with the Crash Course App! Download here for Apple Devices: https://apple.co/3d4eyZo Download here for Android Devices: https://bit.ly/2SrDulJ Crash Course is on Patreon! You can support us directly by signing up at http://www.patreon.com/crashcourse Thanks to the following patrons for their generous monthly contributions that help keep Crash Course free for everyone forever: Eric Prestemon, Sam Buck, Mark Brouwer, William McGraw, Siobhan Sabino, Mark W Billian, Jason Saslow, Jennifer Killen, Jon & Jennifer Smith, DAVID NOE, Jonathan Zbikowski, Shawn Arnold, Trevin Beattie, Matthew Curls, Khaled El Shalakany, Ian Dundore, Kenneth F Penttinen, Eric Koslow, Timothy J Kwist, Indika Siriwardena, Caleb Weeks, Zhu Junrong, HAIXIANG N/A LIU, Nathan Taylor, Andrei Krishkevich, Brian Thomas Gossett, SR Foxley, Tom Trval, Justin Zingsheim, Brandon Westmoreland, dorsey, Jessica Wode, Nathan Catchings, Yasenia Cruz, christopher crowell, Jirat -- Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet? Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/YouTubeCrashCourse Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/TheCrashCourse Tumblr - http://thecrashcourse.tumblr.com Support Crash Course on Patreon: http://patreon.com/crashcourse CC Kids: http://www.youtube.com/crashcoursekids