Aliphatic compound

acyclic aliphatic compound or non-aromatic (butane)
Cyclic aliphatic/non-aromatic compound (cyclobutane)

In organic chemistry, hydrocarbons (compounds composed of carbon and hydrogen) are divided into two classes: aromatic compounds and aliphatic compounds (/ˌælᵻˈfætᵻk/; G. aleiphar, fat, oil) also known as non-aromatic compounds. Aliphatics can be cyclic, but only aromatic compounds contain an especially stable ring of atoms, such as benzene.[1] Aliphatic compounds can be saturated, like hexane, or unsaturated, like hexene and hexyne. Open-chain compounds (whether straight or branched) contain no rings of any type, and are thus aliphatic.

Structure

Aliphatic compounds can be saturated, joined by single bonds (alkanes), or unsaturated, with double bonds (alkenes) or triple bonds (alkynes). Besides hydrogen, other elements can be bound to the carbon chain, the most common being oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and chlorine.

The least complex aliphatic compound is methane (CH4).

Properties

Most aliphatic compounds are flammable, allowing the use of hydrocarbons as fuel, such as methane in Bunsen burners and as liquefied natural gas (LNG), and acetylene in welding.

Examples of aliphatic compounds / non-aromatic

The most important aliphatic compounds are:

Important examples of low-molecular aliphatic compounds can be found in the list below (sorted by the number of carbon-atoms):

Formula Name Structural Formula Chemical Classification
CH4 Methane Alkane
C2H2 Ethyne Alkyne
C2H4 Ethene Alkene
C2H6 Ethane Alkane
C3H4 Propyne Alkyne
C3H6 Propene Alkene
C3H8 Propane Alkane
C4H6 1,2-Butadiene
(CAS# 590-19-2) 		Diene
C4H6 1-Butyne Alkyne
C4H8 1-Butene Alkene
C4H10 Butane Alkane
C6H10 Cyclohexene Cycloalkene
C5H12 n-pentane Alkane
C7H14 Cycloheptane Cycloalkane
C7H14 Methylcyclohexane Cyclohexane
C8H8 Cubane Cyclobutane
C9H20 Nonane Alkane
C10H12 Dicyclopentadiene Diene, Cycloalkene
C10H16 Phellandrene Terpene, Diene Cycloalkene
C10H16 α-Terpinene Terpene, Cycloalkene, Diene
C10H16 Limonene Terpene, Diene, Cycloalkene
C11H24 Undecane Alkane
C30H50 Squalene Terpene, Polyene
C2nH4n Polyethylene Alkane

See also

References

  1. ↑ IUPAC, Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book") (1997). Online corrected version:  (1995) "aliphatic compounds".
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.