(eg) more complex hydrocarbons may be composed of several carbon chains that cross, these are called branched hydrocarbons (eg) hydrocarbons may contain all single bonds or combinations of single, double and triple bonds saturated molecules cannot incorporate additional molecules into their structure, and entirely made up of single carbon-carbon bonds hydrocarbons containing at least one double pr triple carbon- carbon bond are referred to as unsaturated Saturated unsaturated Straight ( or branched) chain, saturated compound containing only single bonds, result from fractional distillation (table 23.1 pg. 676) Relatively low boiling points because of the low degree of intermolecular attraction due to hydrocarbons being generally non-polarMethane gas (CH4): Simplest of all alkanes Produced during anaerobic decomposition of organic substances Major constituent of natural gasEthane (C2H6): Contains one carbon-carbon single bond and six carbon-hydrogen bonds Constituent of natural gasPropane (C3H8): Differs from ethane by the presence of a unit made up of one carbon atom and two hydrogen atoms -CH2- Also found in natural gas Homologous series series of compounds whose members by addition of -CH2-I.e. The alkane seriesGeneral formula : Cn H2n + 2Number of carbon atoms23.6 Naming Hydrocarbons Current procedure for naming organic compounds is based on a set of rules formulated by the International Union Of Pure and Applied Chemistry(IUPAC) Unbalanced alkanes are the simplest to name. They use Greek prefixes for the number of Carbons: pent, hex, hept, or oct, followed by the family endings ane (eg) heptane For branched chains, the name of the smaller portion uses yl which replaces the ane ending. (The branch is known as analkyl group)...
