Question

What are saturated hydrocarbons?

Answer 1

Hydrocarbons are carbon compounds that simply include carbon$\left(\mathrm{C}\right)$ and hydrogen$\left(\mathrm{H}\right)$.

Saturated hydrocarbons

• Saturated hydrocarbons do not have a double or triple bond to undergo an addition reaction They can generally undergo a substitution reaction where one atom is replaced with another group.
• Saturated hydrocarbons are relatively inert in the presence of most reagents. However, in the presence of sunlight, chlorine is rapidly added to hydrocarbons.
• A saturated hydrocarbon might have a linear, branched, or ring-shaped structure.
• Examples of saturated hydrocarbons are alkanes. Alkanes include propane$\left({\mathrm{CH}}_3-{\mathrm{CH}}_2-{\mathrm{CH}}_3\right)$, and butane$\left({\mathrm{CH}}_3-{\mathrm{CH}}_2-{\mathrm{CH}}_2-{\mathrm{CH}}_3\right)$.
• The structure of propane is as follows:-