Unsaturated Hydrocarbons

Unsaturated Hydrocarbons

 

hydrocarbons containing one or more multiple carbon-carbon bonds. Among the unsaturated hydrocarbons are olefins, or alkenes, of the general formula CnH2n (for example, ethylene, CH2 ═ CH2, and propylene, CH3CH ═ CH2), and also hydrocarbons of the general formula CnH2n - 2; (1) unsaturated hydrocarbons containing a triple bond, called alkynes (acetylene, CH≡CH, and its homologues); (2) diene hydrocarbons containing conjugate double bonds (butadiene, CH2═CH═CH—CH═CH2) or cumulated bonds (allene, CH2═C═CH2, and its homologues); (3) cycloalkenes (naphthenes containing a double bond—for example, cyclohexene).

The class of unsaturated hydrocarbons also includes enins, CnH2n - 4, which contain a double bond and a triple bond, and polyenes. Unsaturated hydrocarbons of the aromatic series with general formula CnH2n - 6 have properties very different from those of more common hydrocarbons and therefore constitute a separate class of organic compounds.