Drawing Single Bond Organic Hydrocarbons

Chemistry
[caption id="attachment_5904" align="alignright" width="440"] Straight Chain Pentane[/caption] Carbon is one of the few elements that readily bonds to itself, thus allowing the formation of macromolecular structures. It is not at all an uncommon thing to see a lengthy carbon-based structure, possessing molecular weight well up into the tens of thousands. Compare this with an “ordinary” molecule such as table salt, sodium chloride (NaCl) with its molecular weight—a mere 58. Drawing Single Bonded Organic Structures Ordinarily, carbon compounds are written by chemists in as simple a form as possible. Thus, drawing single bond organic hydrocarbons such as n-hexane, we write, C₆H₁₄ or, a little more in detail, CH₃(CH₂)₄CH₃ or, perhaps even, CH₃‒CH₂‒CH₂‒CH₂‒CH₂‒CH₃ [sc name="MidArticleAdsense"] Need Greater Specificity? The problem is, carbon single bonds possess tetrahedral symmetry. This means that single bonds…
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