Alkanes

USES

Alkanes are very versatile and are being used as solvents, heating oils, fuels, in fat synthesis, in the
synthesis of fatty acids by air oxidation, in the manufacture of albumen, in the transformation to
olefins, etc. The latter are starting materials for the preparation of alkyl benzenes which play an
important role in the synthesis of degradable detergents.

Properties or Characteristics of alkanes

The alkanes can exist as gases, liquids, or solids at room temperature. The unbranched
alkanes methane, ethane, propane, and butane are gases; pentane through
hexadecane are liquids; the homologues larger than hexadecane are solids.Branched
alkanes normally exhibit lower boiling points than unbranched alkanes of the same
carbon content. This occurs because of the greater van der Waals forces that exist
between molecules of the unbranched alkanes. These forces can be dipole‐dipole,
dipole‐induced dipole, or induced dipole‐induced dipole in nature. The unbranched
alkanes have greater van der Waals forces of attraction because of their greater surface
areas.

Solid alkanes are normally soft, with low melting points. These characteristics are due to
strong repulsive forces generated between electrons on neighboring atoms, which are
in close proximity in crystalline solids. The strong repulsive forces counterbalance the
weak van der Waals forces of attraction.

Finally, alkanes are almost completely insoluble in water. For alkanes to dissolve in
water, the van der Waals forces of attraction between alkane molecules and water
molecules would have to be greater than the dipole‐dipole forces that exist between
water molecules. This is notthe case.

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Alkanes are not very reactive when compared with other chemical species. This is
because the backbone carbon atoms in alkanes have attained their octet of electrons
through forming four covalent bonds (the maximum allowed number of bonds under the
octet rule; which is why carbon's valence number is 4). These four bonds formed by
carbon in alkanes are sigma bonds, which are more stable than other types of bond
because of the greater overlap of carbon's atomic orbitals with neighboring atoms' atomic
orbitals. To make alkanes react, the input of additional energy is needed; either through
heat or radiation.

Gasoline is a mixture of the alkanes and unlike many chemicals, can be stored for long
periods and transported without problem. It is only when ignited that it has enough
energy to continue reacting. This property makes it difficult for alkanes to be converted
into other types of organic molecules. (There are only a few ways to do this). Alkanes
are also less dense than water, as one can observe, oil, an alkane, floats on water.

Alkanes are non-polar solvents. Since only C and H atoms are present, alkanes are
nonpolar. Alkanes are immiscible in water but freely miscible in other non-polar solvents.
Alkanes consisting of weak dipole dipole bonds can not break the strong hydrogen bond
between water molecules hence it is not miscible in water. The same character is also
shown by alkenes. Because alkanes contain only carbon and hydrogen, combustion
produces compounds that contain only carbon, hydrogen, and/or oxygen. Like other
hydrocarbons, combustion under most circumstances produces mainly carbon dioxide
and water. However, alkanes require more heat to combust and do not release as much
heat when they combust as other classes of hydrocarbons. Therefore, combustion of
alkanes produces higher concentrations of organic compounds containing oxygen, such
as aldehydes and ketones, when combusting at the same temperature as other
hydrocarbons.

The general formula for alkanes is CNH2N+2; the simplest possible alkane is therefore
methane, CH4. The next simplest is ethane, C2H6; the series continues indefinitely. Each
carbon atom in an alkane has sp³ hybridization.

Alkanes are also known as paraffins, or collectively as the paraffin series. These terms
are also used for alkanes whose carbon atoms form a single, unbranched chain.
Branched-chain alkanes are called isoparaffins.

Methane through Butane are very flammable gases at standard temperature and
pressure (STP). Pentane is an extremely flammable liquid boiling at 36 °C and boiling
points and melting points steadily increase from there; octadecane is the first alkane
which is solid at room temperature. Longer alkanes are waxy solids; candle wax generally
has between C20 and C25chains. As chain length increases ultimately we reach
polyethylene, which consists of carbon chains of indefinite length, which is generally a
hard white solid.

Alkenes: Industrial Importance

They are used as starting materials in the syntheses of alcohols, plastics, laquers, detergents, and fuels. The
most importantalkenes for the chemical industry are ethene, propene and 1,3-butadiene. Ethene is the most
important organic feedstock in the chemical industry.

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Alkenes contain a carbon-carbon double bond which changes the physical properties
of alkenes. Alkenes are unsaturated carbon compounds which have a general formula
of \(C_nH_{2n}\). These compounds are also known as olefins.
Alkenes are a family of compounds containing hydrogen and carbon only
(hydrocarbons) with a carbon-carbon double bond. Ethene and Propene are the first
two hydrocarbons.

Physical Properties of Alkenes

1. Physical State
 These double-bonded compounds are colourless and odourless in nature.
 However, ethene is an exception because it is a colourless gas but has a faintly
sweet odour.
 The first three members of the alkene group are gaseous in nature, the next
fourteen members are liquids and the remaining alkenes are solids.

2. Solubility
 The alkenes are insoluble in water due to their nonpolar characteristics.
 But are completely soluble in nonpolar solvents such as benzene, ligroin, etc.
3. Boiling Point
 The boiling points of the compounds increase as the number of carbon atoms in
the compound increases.
 When alkenes are compared with alkanes, it is found that the boiling points of
both are almost similar, as if the compounds are made up of the same carbon
skeleton.
 The boiling point of straight-chain alkenes is more that branched-chain alkenes
just as in alkanes.

4. Melting Point
 The melting points of these double-bonded compounds depend upon the
positioning of the molecules.
 The melting point of alkenes is similar to that of alkanes.
 However, cis-isomer molecules have a lower melting point than trans- isomers
as the molecules are packed in a U-bending shape.

5. Polarity
 Alkenes are weakly polar just like alkanes but are slightly more reactive than
alkanes due to the presence of double bonds.
 The π electrons which make up the double bonds can easily be removed or
added as they are weakly held.
 Hence, the dipole moments exhibited by alkenes are more than alkanes.
 The polarity depends upon the functional group attached to the compounds and
the chemical structures.

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Alkynes

Alkynes are commonly used to artificially ripe fruits.

The most common form of alkynes Ethyne is used in preparing many other compounds.
some of these uses are as follows:
 
The most common use of Ethyne is for making organic compounds like ethanol,
ethanoic acid, acrylic acid, etc.
 It is also used for making polymers and its beginning materials. for instance,
vinyl chloride is used as the starting material for PVC and chloroprene is used
for synthetic rubber neoprene.
 Ethyne is used for preparing many organic solvents.
Alkynes are commonly used to artificially ripe fruits
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Alkynes: Physical Properties
The physical properties of alkynes are very similar to those of the alkenes. Alkynes are
generally nonpolar molecules with little solubility in polar solvents, such as water. Solubility in
nonpolar solvents, such as ether and acetone, is extensive. Like the alkanes and alkenes,
alkynes of four or fewer carbon atoms tend to be gases.
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properties[edit]
Liquid alkynes are non-polar solvents, immiscible with water. Alkynes are, however, more polar than alkanes
or alkenes, as a result of the electron density near the triple bond. Alkynes with a low ratio of hydrogen atoms
to carbon atoms are highly combustible.