What are alkanes?

What are alkanes

• Alkanes are organic molecules that consist exclusively of carbon and hydrogen.
• Alkanes are saturated, non-cyclic hydrocarbons. Its general molecular formula is C._nH_{2n + 2}.
• Alkanes can be built up from branched or unbranched hydrocarbon chains. Unbranched alkanes are called n-alkanes and branched ones are called iso-alkanes (i-alkanes).
• The n-alkanes form a homologous series.
• The simplest alkane is methane CH₄. Ethane C follows₂H₆, Propane C₃H₈ and butane C₄H₁₀.


What are alkanes used for?

You have probably heard of alkanes or paraffins. But what are ...

• The following alkanes are systematically named with Greek numerals: pentane, hexane, heptane, etc.

The properties of the alkanes

• Alkanes are non-polar molecules, which is why they are unable to form hydrogen bonds.
• The alkanes are a very uniform class of substances, so even knowing the Properties of a few representatives is sufficient to match the properties of the other compounds to predict.
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• The boiling points of the alkanes increase with the length of the carbon chain. The reason for this is the inter-molecular interactions that become stronger with increasing chain length.
• The melting points of the alkanes also increase with increasing chain length, with those of the odd alkanes increasing more than that of the even alkanes. This phenomenon arises from the higher packing density of the straight alkanes.
• Alkanes are hydrophobic and therefore lipophilic. This means that they are not soluble in water, but are soluble in oils. Alkanes are miscible with one another in all proportions.
• Alkanes have a relatively low chemical reactivity because the C-H and C-C bonds are very stable.