Saturated Hydrocarbons

Hydrocarbons are the most basic organic compounds, consisting solely of hydrogen and carbon atoms. They serve as the starting point for our analysis of organic chemistry. It should be noted that hydrocarbons come in a variety of forms. These two types of carbon atoms are differentiated by the kinds of bonding that occur between them and the characteristics that result as a result of those bonds. Known as alkanes, hydrocarbons consisting solely of carbon–carbon single bonds (C–C) and ongoing as a constant carbon chain which are also bonded to hydrogen are hydrocarbons with only carbon–carbon single bonds (C–C) and do not contain any hydrogen atoms (or saturated hydrocarbons). Each carbon atom is bonded to a total of 4 other atoms (hydrogen or carbon) in this case, which is the maximum number of bonds that can be formed; there have been no double or triple bonds in these molecules.

Saturated Hydrocarbons

Single bonds between carbon atoms are the only type of bond found in saturated hydrocarbons. They are the most basic of all the hydrocarbons. Their name comes from the fact that each carbon atom forms bonds with several hydrogen atoms as conceivable. Throughout most phrases, the carbon atoms have been fully saturated with hydrogen atoms. Saturated Hydrocarbons they contain are the building blocks of petroleum fuels, and they can be found in either a linear or a branched configuration. The simplest alkanes are those in which the C atoms are linked together in a linear chain; these are referred to as normal alkanes. They are given their names depending on the number of carbon atoms present in the chain. Methane is the alkane with the smallest molecular weight. Ethane is the alkane with two C atoms.

Saturated hydrocarbons are depicted in the illustration above as an example. 

Each carbon atom in this compound, which is known as ethane, is formed by a bond to three hydrogen atoms. Each dash (-) in the structural formula defines a specific covalent bond, wherein two atoms exchange one pair of electron pairs between them.

Saturated Hydrocarbon Molecular Formula

The molecular formula of saturated hydrocarbons is:

               CnH2n+2 

A saturated hydrocarbon or alkane has the chemical formula CnH2n+2 , in which n represents the total of carbon atoms in one molecule of the alkane and 2 is the number of oxygen atoms in one molecule of the alkane. An alkane with one carbon atom in each of its molecules will have a molecular formula of C1H2(1)+2 or CH4 if it contains one carbon atom in each of its molecules.

Types of Saturated Hydrocarbons

Saturated hydrocarbons can be divided into three categories:

1. Saturated hydrocarbon with a straight chain. Propane is an example.
2. Saturated hydrocarbon with a branched chain. An example is isobutane
3. Cyclic saturated hydrocarbons are the third type of hydrocarbon. An example is cyclohexane.

Unsaturated Hydrocarbons

Unsaturated hydrocarbons include double or triple bonds between the carbon atoms, indicating that they are unsaturated. CnH2n is the general formula for alkenes, which are compounds that contain a double bond (assuming non-cyclic structures). These compounds, which contain triple bonds, are referred to as alkynes and have the general formula CnH2n-2. The smallest alkene, ethylene, has two carbon atoms and is also understood by the common name ethylene, while the smallest alkyne, ethyne, furthermore recognised as acetylene, has one carbon atom and is also known by the common name acetylene.

Method to test for saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons

1. Bromine Test- In order to determine whether a hydrocarbon is unsaturated or saturated, Bromine testing is done, where it includes the inclusion of bromine water towards the hydrocarbon in issue; unsaturated hydrocarbons decolorized the bromine water, but while saturated hydrocarbons did not decolorize the bromine water. As a result of the reaction between bromine water (which is brownish-red) and unsaturated compounds (alkenes or alkynes), which are colourless in nature, di or tetra halo compounds are formed, which are colourless in nature. While saturated compounds, such as alkanes, need not react to bromine water, the colour of bromine water remains the same as it was before the reaction.Drop by drop, while shaking constantly, add bromine water. Whenever the orange-red colour of bromine is no longer visible, the organic compound in question is unsaturated. When all of the pi bonds are broken, the colour is no longer visible. If indeed the colour scheme of bromine exists, it indicates that the organic compound in question is saturated.

C2H6 + Br2   →  C2H6 +Br2

C2H6 + Br2  →   C2H4Br2

Conclusion

In the field of chemistry, organic compounds are compounds containing carbon. Often these chemical compounds contain hydrogen, and so many organic compounds also comprise O2 or even other elements in addition to carbon, making them so-called “organic compounds.” As a result, hydrocarbons, that also comprise only hydrogen and carbon, constitute the large bulk of organic compounds.

Saturated hydrocarbons and unsaturated hydrocarbons are the two types of hydrocarbons that are found in nature. Hydrocarbons are the most abundant natural resources on the planet, with petroleum (also known as crude oil) being the most important. It is obtained by drilling oil wells to reach underground oil deposits and then extracting the oil. It is also possible to find hydrocarbons in natural gas that are found above petroleum deposits.