A chemist is designing a synthetic route for a new medicine and must select a carbon compound as the starting material. Which property of carbon allows it to form a wide variety of organic molecules suitable for this task?
Carbon's ability to form four strong covalent bonds
Carbon has atomic number 6 and four valence electrons, so it is tetravalent: it forms four covalent bonds by sharing electrons with other atoms.
Because its atoms are small, these bonds are strong and stable, allowing carbon to bond with other carbon atoms (catenation) and with hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, halogens and more, giving chains, branches and rings of enormous variety.
Carbon neither gains nor loses electrons easily, and double bonds with oxygen are only one small class of its compounds, so these cannot explain the variety of organic molecules.
Hence, the answer is Carbon's ability to form four strong covalent bonds.
Similar Questions
In a substitution reaction involving an alkane, what happens to the hydrogen atoms of the alkane molecule?
What type of reaction occurs when ethanoic acid reacts with ethanol in the presence of an acid catalyst?
Which of the following is NOT a property typically associated with most covalent compounds of carbon?
Consider the following statements and select the correct option.
Statement A: Addition reactions occur when two or more reactants combine to form a single product.
Statement B: Alkenes and alkynes commonly undergo addition reactions.
Which of the following carbon compounds shows the presence of a branched chain structure?
The IUPAC name for the compound CH3-C(CH3)2-CH2-CH3 is:
Which pair of compounds will show different chemical properties despite having the same molecular formula?
Compounds that differ by a –CH₂– unit belong to which type of chemical grouping?
How did Friedrich Wöhler challenge the vital force theory of organic compound synthesis?
The IUPAC name of the compound CH3 – CH2 – C(CH3)2 – CH2 – CH3 is:
Important Questions from Organic Chemistry
The catalyst used in the manufacture of methyl alcohol from water gas is
A carbon compound when heated in excess of concentrated sulphuric acid at 443K gives ethene. The compound is an________.
The manmade fiber obtained by chemical treatment of wood pulp is _____.
Plastic is not related to which of the following
The Peroxyacetyl Nitrate (PAN) is:
