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Chapter – 4
CARBON AND ITS COMPOUNDS

CONTENT: (reference: CBSE SYLLABUS – 2024)

❖ Covalent Bonding in Carbon compounds

❖ Versatile nature of Carbon
❖ Homologous series
❖ Nomenclature of carbon compounds functional groups
(Halogens, Alcohol, Ketone, Aldehyde, Alkenes and Alkynes)
❖ Difference between saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons
❖ Chemical properties of carbon compounds
(Combustion, Oxidation, Addition and Substitution)
❖ Ethanol and Ethanoic acid (only properties and uses)
❖ Soaps and detergents

❖ CARBON: Study of carbon known as organic chemistry. It is a ubiquitous atom

like it is the seventeenth most abundant element found on The Earth. It may be
found in both free as well as in the combined state i.e. coal, graphite, diamond as
pure form and as metal carbonates, hydrocarbons, and carbon dioxide gas in the
combined state. The atomic number of carbons is 6 and the atomic mass is 12.01
gmol-1. Carbon is a member of the 14th group. It combines with other elements
such as dihydrogen, dioxygen, chlorine, and sulphur and provides amazing arrays
of materials that can vary from most living and non-living part of universe.

❖ Bonding in Carbon – Carbon valence count is 4, so it involves sharing of

electrons between bonding atoms known as COVALENT BOND.

❖ Characteristics of covalent compounds:

• These are weaker than ionic bonds.
• These are insoluble in water and soluble in benzene, kerosene and petrol etc.
• These compounds are poor conductors of electricity.
• These have low melting and boiling points.
❖ Allotropy in Carbon: The property due to which an element exists in two or more
forms, which differ in their physical and some of the chemical properties is known
as “Allotropy” and the various forms are called “Allotropes”.
Carbon exists in two allotropic forms
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• Crystalline: The crystalline forms are diamond and graphite

• Amorphous: The amorphous forms are coal, charcoal, lamp black etc.
• Fullerenes form another class of carbon allotropes. The first one to be identified
was C-60, which has carbon atoms arranged in the shape of a football.
❖ Unique Nature of Carbon: Following reason that carbon has unique nature:
• Catenation: The property of elements to form long chains or rings by self-linkage
of their own atoms through covalent bonds is called catenation. (Carbon atom
forming bonds with carbon atoms)
• Tetravalency: The ability to form four bonds with four other atoms of carbon or
atoms of some other mono-valent element.

❖ Types of organic compound: There are two types of organic compound

• Saturated Carbon Compounds: The valencies of all the carbon atoms are
satisfied by single covalent bonds between them.
• Unsaturated Carbon Compounds: At least one double or triple bond between
the carbon atoms is present.
• Straight chain compounds: (Aliphatic compounds) the compounds which
contain a straight chain of carbon atoms e.g. normal butane (C4H10), normal
pentane (C5H12) etc.
• Cyclic compounds: (Aromatic compound) the compounds are called closed
chain or ring compounds e.g. cyclohexane (C6H12), cyclopentane (C5H10) etc.
• Branched chain compounds: Those compounds which have branched
structure. e.g. isobutane (C4H10), isopentane (C5H12), neopentane (C5H12) etc.

❖ IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS:
• Hydrocarbons: All those compounds which contain just carbon and hydrogen are
called hydrocarbons.
• Isomers: Chemical compounds that have the same chemical formula but different
chemical structure (arrangement of atoms in the molecule) are called isomers and
this phenomenon is called Isomerism.
• Functional Group: The atom or group of atoms which replaces hydrogen atom/
atoms and determines the properties of a compound is known as a functional
group. e.g. —OH (alcohol), —CHO (aldehyde),
>C=C< (alkene), — C≡C — (alkyne) etc.
• Homologous Series: A series of compounds in which the same functional group
substitutes hydrogen in a carbon chain is called a homologous series.
Consecutive members of the series differ by a —CH2 unit and 14 amu mass.
CH4 and C2H6 - These are differ by a -CH2 -unit
C2H6 and C3H8 - These are differ by a -CH2 unit
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❖ Nomenclature: A set of rules were developed for naming organic compounds

based on their structures. The IUPAC name of organic compounds consists of
three parts.
Prefix – Root Word – Suffix
• Root word indicates the number of carbon atoms present in the longest chain. It
includes count of carbon in Latin language is as follows
Number of Carbons Name
1 methane
2 ethane
3 propane
4 butane
5 pentane
6 hexane
7 heptane
8 octane
9 nonane
10 decane
• In case a functional group is present, it is indicated in the name of the compound
with either as a prefix or as a suffix.
Functional group Prefix Suffix
carboxylic acids none -oic acid
aldehydes none -al
ketones none -one
alchols hydroxy- -ol
fluorine fluoro- None
chlorine chloro- None
bromine bromo- None
iodine iodo- None
• While adding the suffix to the root word the terminal “e” of the carbon chain is
removed.
• If the carbon chain is unsaturated then the final ‘ane’ in the name of the carbon
chain is substituted by “ene or yne” for double and triple bonds respectively.

❖ Chemical Properties of Carbon Compounds:

• Combustion: Carbon compounds undergo combustion reaction to produce CO 2
and H2O with the evolution of heat and light.
CH4+2O2 → CO2 + 2H2O + heat and light
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• Oxidation: The substances which are used for oxidation are known as oxidising
agents. e.g. alkaline KMnO4, acidified K2Cr2O7.
• Addition reaction: Unsaturated hydrocarbons (alkenes and alkynes) undergo
addition reaction in presence of catalysts such as palladium or nickel to give
saturated hydrocarbons. e.g. hydrogenation of vegetable oils using a nickel
catalyst.
• Substitution reaction: Saturated hydrocarbons give substitution reaction e.g.
Chlorination reaction - methane in presence of sunlight undergo substitution
reaction as one type of atom or a group of atoms takes the place of another.
❖ Some Important Carbon Compounds
ETHANOL C2H5OH:
Properties of ethanol is as follows –
• Physical Properties of Ethanol
✓ Ethanol is colourless.
✓ It is liquid at room temperature.
✓ Ethanol mixes with water quite well.
✓ Ethanol is a combustible material. It produces CO2, water vapour, heat and light
when it is burnt in the presence of oxygen.
✓ Ethanol, when oxidised with monatomic oxygen, gives ethanoic acid.
• Chemical properties of Ethanol
▪ Dehydration: Intramolecular dehydration: Ethanol, when heated with excess
conc. H2SO4 at 443K undergoes intramolecular dehydration (i.e. removal of water
from a molecule of ethanol) to give ethene (unsaturated hydrocarbon).
CH3CH2OH hot conc.H2SO4 CH2=CH2+H2O
▪ Reaction with sodium: Ethanol reacts with sodium metal to form sodium
ethoxide and hydrogen gas.
2C2H5OH+2Na → 2C2H5ONa+H2↑
▪ Oxidation: Ethanol is oxidized to ethanoic acid with alkaline KMnO 4 or
acidified K2Cr2O7. During this reaction, the orange colour of K2Cr2O7 changes to
green. Therefore, this reaction can be used for the identification of alcohols.
CH3CH2OH2 Alkaline KMnO4/ Acidified K2Cr2O7+Heat CH3COOH
▪ Esterification: Ethanol reacts with Ethanoic acid in the presence of
conc. H2SO4 to form ethyl ethanoate and water. The compound formed by the
reaction of an alcohol with carboxylic acid is known as an ester (a fruity smelling
compound used as perfumes) and the reaction is called esterification.
C2H5OH+CH3COOH conc.H2SO4 CH3COOC2H5+H2O
Ethanoic Acid (Acetic Acid) CH3COOH:
• Physical Properties of Ethanol:
✓ Ethanoic acid, commercially known as acetic acid belongs to a group of acids
called carboxylic acid.
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✓ 5-8% solution of acetic acid in water is called vinegar and is used widely as a
preservative in pickles.
✓ The melting point of pure ethanoic acid is 290 K and hence it often freezes during
winter in cold climates.
✓ This gave rise to its name glacial acetic acid.
• Chemical properties:
▪ Reaction with a base:
2CH3COOH + 2NaOH → 2CH3COONa + H2O
▪ Reaction with carbonates and bicarbonates:
a. 2CH3COOH + Na2CO3 → 2CH3COONa + CO2 + H2O
b. CH3COOH + NaHCO3 → CH3COONa + H2O + CO2
▪ Reaction with alcohol: (Esterification) Esters are most commonly formed by
reaction of an acid and an alcohol. Esters react with a base to give back the
alcohol and sodium salt of carboxylic acid (Saponification)
CH3COOC2H5 NaOH C2H5OH + CH3COONa
❖ Soaps and Detergents: Hardness of water needs the use of detergent
• Soaps: Soaps are sodium or potassium salts of long chain acid carboxylic acids.
• Detergent: Detergents are sodium salts of sulphonic acids or ammonium salts
with chlorides or bromides ions
• Scum: an insoluble substance (scum) remains after washing with water. This is
caused by the reaction of soap with the calcium and magnesium salts, which
cause the hardness of water.

(Source: https://ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/jesc104.pdf)

❖ The mechanism of the cleaning action of soaps: The dirt present on clothes is
organic in nature and insoluble in water. Therefore, it cannot be removed by only
washing with water. When soap is dissolved in water, its hydrophobic ends attach
themselves to the dirt and remove it from the cloth. Then, the molecules of soap
arrange themselves in micelle formation and trap the dirt at the centre of the
cluster. These micelles remain suspended in the water. Hence, the dust particles
are easily rinsed away by water.
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(i) Grease or oil on surface of cloth.

(ii) Stearate ions arranged around the grease or oil droplet.
(iii) Grease or oil droplet surrounded by stearate ions (ionic micelle formed)
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