How IR Spectroscopy works All covalent bonds act rather like springs, as opposed to rigid bars Like springs, the bonds can vibrate in a number of different ways The frequency of vibration occurs in...
How NMR works Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is used for analysing organic compounds Only atoms with odd mass numbers show signals on NMR spectra and have the property of nuclear spi...
Determining Molecular Mass When a compound is analysed in a mass spectrometer, vaporised molecules are bombarded with a beam of high-speed electrons These knock off an electron from some of the mol...
Index of Hydrogen Deficiency The degree of unsaturation or index of hydrogen deficiency provides information about the number of double or triple bonds in a molecule The IHD is the number of...
Reactions of Benzene Arenes are very stable compounds due to the delocalisation of π electrons in the ring This is because the electron density is spread out over the molecule instead of being conf...
Reactions of Halogenoalkanes Halogenoalkanes are much more reactive than alkanes due to the presence of the electronegative halogens The halogen-carbon bond is polar causing the carbon to carry a p...
Esterification Esters are compounds with an -COOR functional group and are characterised by their sweet and fruity smells They are prepared from the condensation reaction between a carboxylic acid ...
Oxidation of Primary Alcohols The products of oxidation of alcohols depends on the class of alcohols Here is a reminder of the three classes of alcohols: The three classes of alcohols Primary alcoh...
Combustion of Alcohols Alcohols react with oxygen in the air when ignited and undergo complete combustion to form carbon dioxide and water Alcohol + oxygen → carbon dioxide + water Complete combust...
