Question

What is catenation?

Answer 1

• Catenation is a property of an atom in which it has the tendency to bind with the elements of the same atom, which leads to the formation of a larger or longer chain.
• The best example of catenation is a carbon ($C$) as it has the tendency to form a maximum of 4 bonds with other elements like carbon($C$), hydrogen($H$), etc via a covalent bond.
• For example methane ($C{H}_4$), ethane ($C_2{H}_6$) are the hydrocarbons formed by the catenation property of the Carbon.