Give the structural difference between saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons with two examples
Answers
Saturated Hydrocarbons
Compounds of carbon and hydrogen whose adjacent carbon atoms contain only one carbon-carbon bond are known as saturated hydrocarbons.
They are called saturated compounds because all the four bonds of carbon are fully utilized and no more hydrogen or other atoms can attach to it.
1. Alkanes - Are saturated hydrocarbons that therefore contain only hydrogen and carbon atoms bonded to each other, and typically follow the chemical formula CnH2n+2.
A common example is paraffin.
ch3ch2ch3
ch3ch2ch2ch3
Unsaturated Hydrocarbons
Compounds of carbon and hydrogen that contain one double bond between carbon atoms (carbon=carbon) or a triple bond between carbon atoms (carbon≡carbon) are called unsaturated hydrocarbons
Unsaturated hydrocarbons can be divided into ‘alkenes’ and ‘alkynes’ depending on the presence of double or triple bonds respectively.
2. Alkenes - These unsaturated hydrocarbons are molecules that contain at least one carbon-to-carbon double bond. With the chemical formula consisting of molecules of CnH2n, alkenes are very common in the petrochemical industry; the simplest alkene is ethylene, or ethane.
ch3=ch2ch3
ch3=ch2ch2ch3
3. Alkynes - This category of hydrocarbons are unsaturated, and contain at least one carbon-to-carbon triple bond. The hydrophobic acetylenes are common examples of alkynes.
Saturated vs. Unsaturated Hydrocarbons. ... Unlike saturated hydrocarbons in which all hydrogen atoms and carbon atoms are bonded together with single bonds, unsaturated hydrocarbons have double or even triple bonds between the carbon atoms.