Question

What is the name of this hydrocarbon?

Answer 1

Hint: Hydrocarbons are organic compounds that contain hydrogen and carbon. The nomenclature of hydrocarbons is done by the rules set by IUPAC. The names given to hydrocarbons having specific numbers of carbon atoms differ by the increase in carbons. The general name given is alkanes for saturated hydrocarbons.

Complete answer:
Hydrocarbons have hydrogen and carbon as their respective atoms. The straight chain hydrocarbons with only single covalent bonds are known as alkanes. The nomenclature of alkanes is done according to IUPAC as,
- the longest possible carbon chain is selected for naming, this is called the parent chain. The carbon atoms that are not included in this chain are called the branched chain or the side chain.
- this longest chain can be zig – zag or a straight chain.
- the numbering is done as the carbon having branches gets the lowest possible number.
-for straight chains the prefix ‘n’ is used when there is no branching.
- Alkanes are named according to the number of carbon atoms present, like 1 carbon – methane, 2 carbon – ethane, 3 carbon propane, 4 carbon – butane, 5 carbon – pentane etc.
Since, the given compound does not contain any branch, the condensed formula of the given compound can be written as, $C{{H}_{3}}C{{H}_{2}}C{{H}_{2}}C{{H}_{2}}C{{H}_{2}}C{{H}_{3}}$ , as this compound contains 6 carbon atoms, it is named as hexane or n – hexane.
Hence, the name of the given compound is n – hexane.

Note:
When there is saturation present in hydrocarbons they are named as alkenes, with presence of double bonds. While the triple bond compounds are named as alkynes. The branching of 1 methyl group is termed with ‘iso’ prefix, while the tertiary alkyl branch is termed with ‘tert’ prefix.