Carbon and Its Compounds

Carbon is the third most important element after oxygen and hydrogen, for the existence
of life on the earth,l he name carbon is derived from the Latin word 'Carbo' which means Syllabus
Covalent Bonding in
coal' Carbon Compounds.
The earth cru_t has only 0.02% carbon which is present in the form of minerals
Aike carbonates, hydrogen-carbonates, coal and petroleum)) and the atmosphere has
Allotropes of Carbonar
Their Properties
0.03% of carbon dioxide. Fuels (like wood, kerosene, coal, LPG, CNG, petrol etc.), o Versatile Nature of Cart
clothing material (like cotton, nylon, polyester), paper, rubber, plastics, leather, drugs and
Hydrocarbons
dyes are all made up of carbon. Saturated Hydrocarbo
In this chapter, we will study the properties of carbon compounds which makes them
important to us.
very Unsaturated Hydrocar
lsomerism Functional
Groups
Covaleni Bonding in Carbon CompoUnds Homologous Series.
Nomenclature of Carbo
The bonds which are formed by the sharing of an electron pair between the atoms (either
Compounds Containing
same or different atoms) are known as covalent bonds. Functional Groups
Atomic number of carbon (C) is 6. So, its electronic configuration = Halogens Alcohol
Thus, there are 4 electrons in its outermost shell and its octet can be completed by the Ketones Aldehyde
following rwo ways: Alkanes Alkynes
) k could gain 4 electrons andform C* anion. But for a nucleus having 6 protons, it Chemical Properties of
Carbon Compounds
would be difficult to hold on 10 electrons, i.e. 4 extra electrons.
Combustion
(i) It could lose 4 electrons and form C"cation. But a large amount of energy is
.Oxidation
required
to remove leaving
4electrons behind carbon
a cation with 6 protons in its Addition
nucleus holding on just two electrons together, which is not possible.
Therefore, in order to overcome this problem, carbon shares its valence electrons with ocher .Substitution reaction
atoms of carbon or with atoms of ocher elements. These shared electrons belong to the Fuels and Flames
outermost shells of both and in this way, both Ethanol and Ethanoic A
atoms atoms attain the nearest noble gas
configuration. This type of bonding is called covalent bonding (only properties and us

The number of electrons shared berween rwo atoms to complete their octet (except Soaps and Detergents.
hydrogen which shows duplet) is known as the covalency of that atom. Thus, the
covalency of hydrogen is 1, oxygen is 2, nitrogen is 3 and carbon is 4. Other atoms also
exhibit similar type of bonding.
 oO
Covalent Bond A covalent bond is formed by sharing of electrons between atoms. In a covalent
bond, the shared pair of electrons belongs to the valence shell of both the atoms.
Carbon forms covalent bonds.
o Electronegativity It is the ability of an atom to attract a shared pair of electrons towards itself.
t the atoms forming a covalent bond have different electronegativities, the atom with higher
electronegativity pulls the shared pair of electrons towards itself. Thus, the atom with the higher
electronegativity develops a partial negative charge and the atom with the lower lower
electronegativity develops a partial positive charge. This covalent bond with some polarity is
called polar covalent bond. Carbon forms a large number of compounds because of two unique
properties-(i) Tetravalency and (i) Catenation
o Tetravalency of Carbon
Atomic number 6
Electronic configuration 2, 4
Number of valence electrons 4
Valency 4

So, carbon needs four electrons configuration. In other words, carbon has the
to attain noble gas
ability to form four bonds with carbon or atom of other mono-valent elements.
o Catenation Carbon has the unique ability to form bonds with other atoms of carbon, giving rise
to large molecules. This property is called catenation.
o UPAC Name of hydro carbon consists of two parts. It involves
Word root Number of carbons in the longest carbon chain.
Number of carbon Word root Number of carbon Word root
atoms (Greek name) atoms (Greekname)
1 Meth 6 Hex

2 Eth 7 Hept
3 Prop 8 Oct
4 But 9 Non
5 Pent 10 Dec

o Suffix It depends on the type of carbon-carbon bond for single bond, suffix is-ane; for double
bond, suffix is -

ene; and for triple bond, suffix is -

yne.
 Difference between Covalent and lonic
Compounds
Covalent Compounds
lonic Compounds
Reason Property Reason
Property Nature
1. Nature
Their constituent particles They have weak forces of
Their constituent particles are These have strong intermolecular forces of
are molecules. attraction between their
attraction between their ions, which cannot
ions These are gases, liquids molecules.
be separated easily.
(i) They are hard solids or soft solids (except
consisting of ions.
graphite and diamond).
Boiling point and
2. Boiling point and melting
melting point
point
These are volatile with low They have weak forces of
These are non-volatile, with There exists astrong force of attraction
between the oppositely charged ions, so a boiling and low melting attraction between the binding
high boiling point and molecules, thus less energyis
melting point. large amount of energy is required to break point.
the strong bonding force between ions. required to break the force of
bonding.
3. Electrical conductivity Electrical conductivity
They do not conduct Intermolecular force of attraction (i.e. They are non-conductors Due to the absence of free
in solid, ions or charged particles.
electrostatic forces) between ions in the solid
electricity in the solid state. of electricity
But act as a good conductor state are very strong, which gets weaken in molten aqueous state.
or
in the fused or molten state. fused or molten state. Hence, ions become
mobile
4. Solubility Solubility
These are soluble in water Water is a polar solvent, it decreases the These are insoluble in As organic solvents are
but insoluble in organic intermolecular forces of attraction, resulting water but dissolve in non-polar, hence, these
solvents. in free ions in aqueous solution. Hence, they organic solvents. dissolve in non-polar covalent
dissolve compounds.
Check Point07 Note Diamond can be
carbon to
prepared artificially
high
by subjecting
pressure and temperature.
pure
These
very from
small but are indistinguishable
What do you mean by cOvalent bonding? synthetic diamonds are

1 natural diamonds.
lement X which has 6 electrons in its outermost
electrons to omplete its octet for
shell,
require 2
configuration.
X is an essential element
attaining noble gas
for the survival of all Graphite
What is X?
living beings. General Properties
The main constituent of marsh gas i s . . . . .
3 I t is a greyish black, opaque substance.
I n case of a water molecule, hydrogen acquires a .
configuration. I t is lighter than diamond, smooth and slippery to touch.
of
Write the covalent bonding in nitrogen. good conductor of electricity (due to the presence
Itfreeis aelectrons) but bad conductor of heat.
5 Why covalent compound are volatile in nature with low
boiling
and low melting point? Structure
Givetwo differences between ionic and covalent compounds.
A graphite crystal consists of
layers of carbon atoms or sheets

Allotropes of Carbon and of carbon atoms. Each carbon

atom in a graphite layer is

Their Properties joined to three other carbon

atoms by strong covalent bonds
Allotropy is the property by virtue of which an element to form flat hexagonal rings. The structure of graphite
exists in more than one form and each form has different However, the fourth electron of
physical properties but identical chemical properties. These each carbon atom is free which makes it a good
iferent forms are called allotropes. Carbon exists in of electricity. The various layers of carbon atoms in
conductor
different allotropic forms; some of them are: graphite are held together by weak van der Waals' forces so
Crystalline form, e.g. diamond, graphite and these can slide over one another and therefore, graphite is
fullerene. slippery to touch.
(i Micro-crystalline form or amorphous form, e.g. coal,
lampblack and charcoal. Fullerenes
These are recently discovered
allotropic forms of carbon
Diamond which were prepared for the first
time by H W Kroto, Smalley
General Properties and Robert Curt by the action
I t is a colourless transparent substance with extra of laser beam on the vapours of
ordinary brilliance due to its high refractive index. graphite. The first known
It is quite heavy and extremely hard (hardest natural fullerene was C60 which
substance known). contains 60 carbon atoms(C60)
I t does not conduct electricity (because of the absence of with smaller proportion of(C70) The structure of C-60
Buckminster fullerene
free elecrons) but it has high thermal conductivity and and traces of compounds
high melting point. containing even upto 370 carbon atoms. Fullerene (C60) was
named Buckminster fullerene due to their resemblance (in
Structure structure) with geodesic domes, designed and built by the
It is a giant molecule of carbon American Architect Robert Buckminster Fuller.
atoms in which each carbon atom
is bonded to four other carbon
atoms forming rigid a three-
Check Point 03
1 Write the two examples of crystalline form of carbon.
dimensional network structure,
2 Draw the structure of diamond.
which is responsible for its
The structure of
hardness. Moreover, a lot of 3 Why graphite is smooth?
energy
is required to break the network of
diamond
4 How do diamond can be prepared artificially?
Strong covalent bonds in the diamond crystal. Therefore, 5 Give two
differences between ionic and covalent compounds.
Its
melting point is very high. 6 Diamond is a covalent solid, yet has a high melting
point. Why?
 Homologous seriees
Homologous Series General Formula Example Functional Group
Alkanes CH2n+2 (n 21) CH4,n =1
Alkenes CH2n (n 2 1) CaH4,n = 2 C=C
Alcohols (Alkanols) CH2+20 (n 2 1) CH40,n =1 -OH

Carboxylic acids CH2nO2 (n 2 1) CH02n =1 -COOH

(Alkanoic acids)
n represents the no. of carbons atoms
Flame
A flame is the region where combustion (or burning) of
gaseous substances takes place. Depending upon the
amount of oxygen available and burning of fuels, flames are
of the following two types:

Blue or Non-luminous Flame

When the oxygen supply is sufficient, the fuels burn
completely producing a blue flame and no light is produced.
e.g. burning of LPG in gas stove.
Yellow or Luminous Flame
In the insufficient supply of air, the fuels burn incompletely
and produce yellow flame because of the presence of
unburnt carbon particles, e.g. burning of wax vapours.
Uses
Uses of ethanol are:
lt is used as an active ingredient in all alcoholic drinks.
It
It is useful in medicines like tincture of
of iodine,
cough syrups and many other tonics.
Alcohol is used as an additive in petrol, since it is a cleaner
fuel and give rise to only CO, and H,O when burnt in
sufficient air.
(iii) Esterification When ethanol (an alcohol) reacts

with acetic acid (a carboxylic acid) in the presence

of an acid as catalyst, a fruity (sweet) smelling
liquid called ester is obtained. This reaction is
called esterification.
Conc.H2 SO4
CH,COOH+CH, CH,OH 4
-H20
Ethanoic Ethanol
acid

CH-G-0-CH,CH,
Ester