Chemistry · Ch 15 — Hydrocarbons
Alkanes
Alkanes
Alkanes are aliphatic saturated hydrocarbons: every bond in the molecule is a carbon-carbon or carbon-hydrogen single covalent bond, with no multiple bonds anywhere in the structure. Their general molecular formula is , where is the number of carbon atoms in the molecule -- a relationship already introduced in Chapter 14 when discussing IUPAC nomenclature. Because alkanes have so little chemical affinity for other substances an …
What this figure shows. A branching classification tree of hydrocarbons. At the top, 'Hydrocarbon' splits into 'Open chain (aliphatic)' and 'Cyclic'. The open-chain branch splits into 'Saturated (alkane)' and 'Unsaturated (alkene, alkyne)', each of which further splits into 'Straight chain' and 'Branched chain'. The cyclic branch splits into 'Saturated (alicyclic)' and 'Aromatic / Nonaromatic', with the alicyclic branch again splitting into straight-chain and branched-chain sub-types. The diagram visually summarises that whether a hydrocarbon is open-chain or cyclic, and whether its carbon skeleton is straight or branched, …