Unbranched alkanes

Table 2 3 lists the heats of combustion of several alkanes Unbranched alkanes have slightly higher heats of combustion than their 2 methyl branched isomers but the most important factor is the number of carbons The unbranched alkanes and the 2 methyl branched alkanes constitute two separate homologous senes (see Section 2 9) m which there is a regular increase of about 653 kJ/mol (156 kcal/mol) m the heat of combustion for each additional CH2 group... 

Unbranched alkanes. Unbranched alkanes are also called normal alkanes. The names of the first four members of the homologous series of unbranched or normal alkanes, C H2 + 2 are retained names. They were coined more than 100 years ago, officially recognised by the Geneva Conference in 1892, and have been used ever since. There are no alternative names for them. 

Clathrates of [tri-O-thymotide (TOT), brucine, sparteine, 2,2 -dihydroxy-1,1 -binaphthyl-diol] Alkanes, unbranched chiral hydrocarbons, acids and esters bearing small substituents, halogenated hydrocarbons, sulfoxides, phosphine oxides, phosphinates, piperidines [59-64]... 

Methane is the only alkane of molecular formula CH4 ethane the only one that is C2H6 and propane the only one that is C3Hj Beginning with C4H10 however constitutional isomers (Section 1 8) are possible two alkanes have this particular molecular formula In one called n butane, four carbons are joined m a continuous chain The nmn butane stands for normal and means that the carbon chain is unbranched The second isomer has a branched carbon chain and is called isobutane... 

Unbranched alkanes are sometimes referred to as straight chain alkanes but as we 11 see m Chapter 3 their chains are not straight but instead tend to adopt the zigzag shape portrayed m the bond line formulas introduced m Section 1 7... 

Three isomeric alkanes have the molecular formula C5H12 The unbranched isomer is as we have seen n pentane The isomer with a single methyl branch is called isopen tane The third isomer has a three carbon chain with two methyl branches It is called neopentane... 

The lUPAC rules assign names to unbranched alkanes as shown m Table 2 2 Methane ethane propane and butane are retained for CH4 CH3CH3 CH3CH2CH3 and CH3CH2CH2CH3 respectively Thereafter the number of carbon atoms m the chain is specified by a Latin or Greek prefix preceding the suffix ane which identifies the com pound as a member of the alkane family Notice that the prefix n is not part of the lUPAC system The lUPAC name for CH3CH2CH2CH3 is butane not n butane... 

We can present and illustrate the most important of the lUPAC rules for alkane nomen clature by naming the five C6H14 isomers By definition (Table 2 2) the unbranched 14 isomer is hexane... 

The lUPAC rules name branched alkanes as substituted derivatives of the unbranched alkanes listed in Table 2 2 Consider the CgHi4 isomer represented by the structure... 

Pick out the longest continuous carbon chain and find the lUPAC name m Table 2 2 that corresponds to the unbranched alkane having that number of carbons This is the parent alkane from which the lUPAC name is to be derived... 

An alkyl group lacks one of the hydrogens of an alkane A methyl group (CH3 —) is an alkyl group derived from methane (CH4) Unbranched alkyl groups m which the point of attachment is at the end of the chain are named m lUPAC nomenclature by replac mg the ane endings of Table 2 2 by yl... 

As you can see cycloalkanes are named under the lUPAC system by adding the prefix cyclo to the name of the unbranched alkane with the same number of carbons as the ring Substituent groups are identified m fhe usual way Their posifions are specified by numbering fhe carbon atoms of fhe ring m fhe direction fhaf gives fhe lowesf num ber to fhe subsfifuenfs af fhe firsf pomf of difference... 

FIGURE 2 12 Boiling points of unbranched alkanes and their 2 methyl branched iso mers (Temperatures in this text are expressed in de grees Celsius C The SI unit of temperature is the kelvin K To convert degrees Celsius to kelvins add 273 15 )... 

As noted earlier m this section branched alkanes have lower boiling points than their unbranched isomers Isomers have of course the same number of atoms and elec Irons but a molecule of a branched alkane has a smaller surface area than an unbranched one The extended shape of an unbranched alkane permits more points of contact for mtermolecular associations Compare the boiling points of pentane and its isomers... 

The small differences m stability between branched and unbranched alkanes result from an interplay between attractive and repulsive forces within a molecule (intramo lecular forces) These forces are nucleus-nucleus repulsions electron-electron repul sions and nucleus-electron attractions the same set of fundamental forces we met when... 

Two constitutionally isomeric alkanes have the molecular formula C4H10 One has an unbranched chain (CH3CH2CH2CH3) and is called n butane, the other has a branched chain [(CH3)3CH] and is called isobutane Both n butane and isobutane are common names... 

Unbranched alkanes of the type CH3(CH2) cCH3 are often referred to as n alkanes and are said to belong to a homologous series... 

Find the longest continuous chain of carbon atoms and assign a basis name to the compound corresponding to the lUPAC name of the unbranched alkane having the same number of carbons... 

Assign a basis name according to the number of carbons in the corresponding unbranched alkane Drop the ending -ane and replace it by -y/... 

Alkanes and cycloalkanes are nonpolar and insoluble m water The forces of attraction between alkane molecules are induced dipole/induced dipole attractive forces The boiling points of alkanes increase as the number of carbon atoms increases Branched alkanes have lower boiling points than their unbranched isomers There is a limit to how closely two molecules can approach each other which is given by the sum of their van der Waals radii... 

We have seen in this chapter that among isomenc alkanes the unbranched isomer is the least stable and has the highest boiling point the most branched isomer is the most stable and has the lowest boiling point Does this mean that one alkane boils lower than another because it is more stable" Explain... 

Higher octane gasoline typically contains a greater proportion of branched alkanes relative to unbranched ones Are branched alkanes better fuels because they give off more energy on com bustion" Explain... 

Higher alkanes having unbranched carbon chains are like butane most stable m then-all anti conformations The energy difference between gauche and anti conformations is similar to that of butane and appreciable quantities of the gauche conformation are pres ent m liquid alkanes at 25°C In depicting the conformations of higher alkanes it is often more helpful to look at them from the side rather than end on as m a Newman projec tion Viewed from this perspective the most stable conformations of pentane and hexane... 

Some classes of compounds are so prone to fragmentation that the molecular ion peak IS very weak The base peak m most unbranched alkanes for example is m/z 43 which IS followed by peaks of decreasing intensity at m/z values of 57 71 85 and so on These peaks correspond to cleavage of each possible carbon-carbon bond m the mol ecule This pattern is evident m the mass spectrum of decane depicted m Figure 13 42 The points of cleavage are indicated m the following diagram... 

Univalent radicals derived from saturated unbranched alkanes by removal of hydrogen from a terminal carbon atom are named by adding -yl in place of -ane to the stem name. Thus the alkane... 

Bivalent radicals derived from saturated unbranched alkanes by removal of two hydrogen atoms are named as follows (1) If both free bonds are on the same carbon atom, the ending -ane of the hydrocarbon is replaced with -ylidene. However, for the first member of the alkanes it is methylene... 

Ca.ta.lysts, A small amount of quinoline promotes the formation of rigid foams (qv) from diols and unsaturated dicarboxyhc acids (100). Acrolein and methacrolein 1,4-addition polymerisation is catalysed by lithium complexes of quinoline (101). Organic bases, including quinoline, promote the dehydrogenation of unbranched alkanes to unbranched alkenes using platinum on sodium mordenite (102). The peracetic acid epoxidation of a wide range of alkenes is catalysed by 8-hydroxyquinoline (103). Hydroformylation catalysts have been improved using 2-quinolone [59-31-4] (104) (see Catalysis). 

A catalyst, usually acid, is required to promote chemoselective and regioselective reduction under mild conditions. A variety of organosilanes can be used, but triethylsilane ia the presence of trifiuoroacetic acid is the most frequendy reported. Use of this reagent enables reduction of alkenes to alkanes. Branched alkenes are reduced more readily than unbranched ones. Selective hydrogenation of branched dienes is also possible. 

---