Alkane

An alkane in organic chemistry is a saturated hydrocarbon without cycles, that is, an acyclic hydrocarbon in which the molecule has the maximum possible number of hydrogen atoms and so has no double bonds.

Related Topics:
Organic chemistry - Saturated - Hydrocarbon - Molecule - Hydrogen - Double bond

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Alkanes are also often known as paraffins, or collectively as the paraffin series; these terms, however, are also used to apply only to alkanes whose carbon atoms form a single, unbranched chain; when this is done, branched-chain alkanes are called isoparaffins.

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Alkanes are aliphatic compounds.

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The general formula for alkanes is CnH2n+2; the simplest possible alkane is therefore methane, CH4. The next simplest is ethane, C2H6; the series continues indefinitely. Each carbon atom in an alkane has sp3 hybridization.

Related Topics:
Methane - Ethane - Hybridization

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