Organic Chemistry Questions
Discussion Question 1
Differences between alkanes, alkenes, and alkynes
The alkanes are hydrocarbons that are saturated; the carbon atoms are joined by single bonds and surrounded by hydrogen. The alkenes are unsaturated hydrocarbons, one or more double bonds existing between the carbon atoms (Olah, Molnár, & Prakash, 2017). The alkynes are also unsaturated hydrocarbons, but they contain triple bonds between the carbon atoms.
Difference between cis and Trans isomers of alkenes
The cis isomers are mainly hydrocarbon molecules that contain similar connectivity of the atoms, and they include identical groups located on the same side of the double bond. On the other hand, the Trans isomers are hydrocarbons with two similar atoms but placed on different sides of the double bond. The Trans isomers are mainly polar molecules.
How the cis-trans isomers are used for night vision
When light hits the rods or the cones in the eye, electrons are excited and gain energy, which then breaks the double bond between C11 and C12, allowing for rotation to trans isomer (Marazzi et al., 2019). The isomerism leads to the change in the shape of the rod cells, and there is the conversion of the rhodopsin to meta-rhodopsin, which then enhances vision.
Discussion question 2
Haloalkane
These are alkanes that have one or more halogen attached to them. The halogens attached include chlorine, fluorine, bromine, and iodine. Halothane is one of the essential haloalkanes in everyday use.
Haloalkane and anesthesia
This is an inhalational anesthetic agent that is introduced to maintain a state of general anesthesia. It works to depress the conduction of the nerve impulses, depress breathing, and cardiac contractility. It brings about immobilization by binding to potassium channels as well as the cholinergic neurons.
References
Marazzi, M., Gattuso, H., Giussani, A., Zhang, H., Navarrete-Miguel, M., Chipot, C., … Monari, A. (2019). Induced Night Vision by Singlet-Oxygen-Mediated Activation of Rhodopsin. Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 10(22), 7133–7140. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b02911
Olah, G. A., Molnár, Á., & Prakash, G. S. (2017). Hydrocarbon Chemistry, 2 Volume Set. John Wiley & Sons.