Alkane: Difference between revisions

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<onlyinclude>An '''alkane''' is a type of [[hydrocarbon]] that contain only single bonds. Alkanes are true hydrocarbons, meaning they are made up of nothing but [[hydrogen]] and [[carbon]].</onlyinclude><ref>“Alkanes,” Chemistry LibreTexts, 28-Nov-2016. [Online]. Available: http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Organic_Chemistry/Hydrocarbons/Alkanes. [Accessed: 19-May-2017].</ref> Alkanes can also be referred to as ''[[saturated hydrocarbons]]'' since they have the most number of hydrogen atoms per carbon atom.<ref name=brown/>
[[fr:Alcane]]
<onlyinclude>An '''alkane''' is a type of [[hydrocarbon]] that contains only single bonds between the central carbon atoms. Alkanes are true hydrocarbons, meaning they contain only [[hydrogen]] and [[carbon]] atoms.</onlyinclude><ref>“Alkanes,” Chemistry LibreTexts, 28-Nov-2016. [Online]. Available: http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Organic_Chemistry/Hydrocarbons/Alkanes. [Accessed: 19-May-2017].</ref> Alkanes are also referred to as ''[[saturated hydrocarbons]]'' since they have the maximum number of hydrogen atoms per carbon atom, versus the [[unsaturated hydrocarbons]] (alkenes and alkynes) which contain fewer hydrogen atoms per carbon atom.<ref>"Unsaturated Hydrocarbons - Chemistry LibreTexts", chem.libretexts.org, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/General_Chemistry/Map%3A_Chemistry_-_The_Central_Science_(Brown_et_al.)/25%3A_Chemistry_of_Life%3A_Organic_and_Biological_Chemistry/25.04%3A_Unsaturated_Hydrocarbons. [Accessed: 14-Jun-2019].</ref>


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Alkanes have the [[molecular formula]] C<sub>'''''n'''''</sub>H<sub>2'''''n'''''+2</sub>, where '''''n''''' refers to the '''''n'''''umber of carbon [[atom]]s, and can be any natural number (1, 2, 3, ...).
Alkanes have the molecular formula C<sub>'''''n'''''</sub>H<sub>2'''''n'''''+2</sub>, where:
*C is Carbon.
*H is Hydrogen.
*'''''n''''' refers to the number of carbon [[atom]]s.


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Take for example the three simplest alkanes:  
The three simplest alkanes are [[methane]] (CH<sub>4</sub>), [[ethane]] (C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>6</sub>) and [[propane]] (C<sub>3</sub>H<sub>8</sub>) which contain one, two and three carbons respectively.<ref name=brown>T. L. Brown, J. H. E. LeMay, B. E. Bursten and C. J. Murphy. Woodward, Chemistry: the central science. - 11th Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009.</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Name !! "n" !! Formula
|-
| [[methane]] || 1 || CH<sub>4</sub>
|-
|[[ethane]] || 2 || C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>6</sub>
|-
| [[propane]] || 3 || C<sub>3</sub>H<sub>8</sub>
|}




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<gallery mode = " packed" | caption="Space-Filling Models of the Three Simplest Alkanes" |align=left>
<gallery mode = " packed" | caption="Space-Filling Model of the Three Simplest Alkanes" |align=left>
File:Methane-3D-vdW.png|link=Methane|Figure 1. Methane.<ref>https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Methane-3D-vdW.png</ref>
File:Methane-3D-vdW.png|link=Methane|Figure 1. Meth'''ane'''.<ref>https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Methane-3D-vdW.png</ref>
File:613px-Ethane-3D-vdW.png|link=Ethane|200px|Figure 2. Ethane.<ref>https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ethane-3D-space-filling.png</ref>
File:613px-Ethane-3D-vdW.png|link=Ethane|200px|Figure 2. Eth'''ane'''.<ref>https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ethane-3D-space-filling.png</ref>
File:640px-Propane-3D-space-filling.png|link=Propane|Figure 3. Propane.<ref>https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Propane-3D-space-filling.png</ref>
File:640px-Propane-3D-space-filling.png|link=Propane|Figure 3. Prop'''ane'''.<ref>https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Propane-3D-space-filling.png</ref>


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</gallery>
</gallery>




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While these examples are very simple alkanes, larger molecules can be branched or cyclic (containing a ring of carbon atoms). The names of all alkanes end with the suffix '''-ane''' (e.g. meth'''ane'''). The chemical name of an alkane will include information about the number of carbons in the molecule (such as in the example molecules above) and their arrangement (whether there are branches on the central carbon chain, for example). <ref>"Alkanes", I. Hunt, ,[Online]. Available: http://www.chem.ucalgary.ca/courses/351/Carey5th/Ch02/ch2-4.html#nomenclature. [Accessed: 14-Jun-2019].</ref>
Alkanes can be recognized by their '''-ane''' suffix.  


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When two molecules have same molecular formula, but have the atoms arranged in a different way, they are called [[chemical isomer | structural isomers]]. For example, both ''butane'' and ''2-methylpropane'' shown below have the same molecular formula C<sub>4</sub>H<sub>9</sub>, but have the carbon atoms arranged differently.
When there are more than 3 carbons per alkane chain, there is a possibility of forming branched chains. The different arrangements of these branched chains will have different nomenclature, depending mainly on where they are branching from. Molecules that have the same molecular formula but with different molecular arrangements are called '''[[chemical isomer|structural isomers]]'''.<ref name=brown />  


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<gallery mode = " packed" | caption="Space-Filling Models of Two Structural Isomers" |align=left>
[[Fossil fuel]]s are [[hydrocarbon]]s. Many of these fossil fuels include [[chemical]]s like [[methane]] (CH<sub>4</sub>), [[ethane]] (C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>6</sub>), [[propane]] (C<sub>3</sub>H<sub>8</sub>), [[butane]] (C<sub>4</sub>H<sub>10</sub>) and [[octane]] (C<sub>8</sub>H<sub>18</sub>). All of these different components of [[gasoline]] and [[natural gas]] are alkanes.  
File:Butane-3D-space-filling.png |link=butane|Figure 4. Butane.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butane#/media/File:Butane-3D-space-filling.png</ref>
File:Isobutane3.png|link=2-methylpropane|200px|Figure 2. 2-methylpropane.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isobutane#/media/File:Isobutane3.png</ref>
</gallery>
 
The major components of [[fossil fuel]]s are [[hydrocarbon]]s, including alkanes such as [[methane]] (CH<sub>4</sub>) - the major component of natural gas, [[propane]] (C<sub>3</sub>H<sub>8</sub>) - commonly used as BBQ fuel, [[butane]] (C<sub>4</sub>H<sub>10</sub>) -often used as lighter fuel and [[octane]] (C<sub>8</sub>H<sub>18</sub>) - an important component of gasoline.


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To learn more about alkanes, click [http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Organic_Chemistry/Hydrocarbons/Alkanes here].
To learn more about alkanes, click [http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Organic_Chemistry/Hydrocarbons/Alkanes here].


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Revision as of 18:07, 10 September 2021

An alkane is a type of hydrocarbon that contains only single bonds between the central carbon atoms. Alkanes are true hydrocarbons, meaning they contain only hydrogen and carbon atoms.[1] Alkanes are also referred to as saturated hydrocarbons since they have the maximum number of hydrogen atoms per carbon atom, versus the unsaturated hydrocarbons (alkenes and alkynes) which contain fewer hydrogen atoms per carbon atom.[2]

Alkanes have the molecular formula CnH2n+2, where n refers to the number of carbon atoms, and can be any natural number (1, 2, 3, ...).

Take for example the three simplest alkanes:

Name "n" Formula
methane 1 CH4
ethane 2 C2H6
propane 3 C3H8



While these examples are very simple alkanes, larger molecules can be branched or cyclic (containing a ring of carbon atoms). The names of all alkanes end with the suffix -ane (e.g. methane). The chemical name of an alkane will include information about the number of carbons in the molecule (such as in the example molecules above) and their arrangement (whether there are branches on the central carbon chain, for example). [6]

When two molecules have same molecular formula, but have the atoms arranged in a different way, they are called structural isomers. For example, both butane and 2-methylpropane shown below have the same molecular formula C4H9, but have the carbon atoms arranged differently.

The major components of fossil fuels are hydrocarbons, including alkanes such as methane (CH4) - the major component of natural gas, propane (C3H8) - commonly used as BBQ fuel, butane (C4H10) -often used as lighter fuel and octane (C8H18) - an important component of gasoline.

To learn more about alkanes, click here.

References