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Organic Chemistry

Differences between a Carbocation and an Electrophile

Carbocations and electrophiles are both electron-deficient species and therefore are electron acceptors. They are attracted to electron-rich centers. However, the electrophile is slightly different from carbocation.

Electrophiles can have a full positive or partial positive charge due to electronegative atoms creating polarity differences, or they can be neutral uncharged species with vacant orbitals.

For example-

Sawhorse Projection

Ever looked at a cloud formation and wondered at its shapes? Sometimes, it’s Winnie the Pooh, Snoopy the Dog, a dragon, or a man jet skiing. Perhaps the images we spawn are our association with the world we live in and relate to. Maybe it was this association that the scientist who drew the first sawhorse projections tried to analogize when relating the unseen with the seen. We may never know! Still, the Sawhorse projection is said to be similar to a carpenter’s sawhorse or a mule, used to support a plank for sawing.

Electrochemical Series

In the electrochemical series, the electrodes are arranged in the increasing order of their reduction potential under standard conditions of 1M electrolyte concentration, 298 K temperature, and 1 bar atmospheric pressure.

It is also known as the activity series as the activities of two different electrodes towards displacement reaction are compared; whether the electrode under standard reaction condition will have reduction potential or oxidation potential.

 

Isomers and Isomerism

Isomers are molecules with the same molecular formula; that is, they have the same atoms in exact numbers (or the same molar masses); however, they still differ in their structures.  

These differences or structural variations arise due to the atom’s attachment styles. 

An atom may connect differently, each time having different set of neighbors by bond or in space. 

Melting Point

The melting point of a substance is the temperature at which a  solid, ordered crystalline substance is in equilibrium with a more random liquid state, thereby undergoing a phase change.

Since the components of the solid substances are bound by strong intermolecular attractive forces, it also reflects the energy needed to weaken these attractive forces and move freely in the liquid state. 

 

Differentiating complete structural formulas and condensed structural formulas using examples

Draw complete structural formulas and  condensed structural formulas for

        a) three compounds of formula C3H8O

        b) five compounds of formula C3H6O

The condensed structural formula disguises the molecule's true vastness by revealing only the number of atoms present. What remains hidden from sight are the bond connections, the bond angles, and their three-dimensional arrangements, so what we observe is just the molecule's literal condensed form.

What are Radical inhibitors and their role in a reaction?

A radical reaction usually happens in three steps- Initiation (creation of free radicals), Propagation (multiplication and growth of radical reaction), and Termination (stopping of the free radical reaction).

Radical inhibitors are chemical species that inhibit radical reactions by halting the chain propagation step.

Examples of such inhibitors are Hydroquinone, BHT (2,6-di-t-butyl-4-methylphenol), etc.