A branched chain alkane or branched alkane is an alkane which has alkyl groups bonded to its central carbon chain. Branched alkanes contain only carbon and hydrogen (C and H) atoms, with carbons connected to other carbons by single bonds only, but the molecules contain branches (methyl, ethyl, etc.)

What is branched and unbranched?

Jan 18, 2016. Any alkane that has a carbon atom adjacent to 3 or 4 other carbon atoms, is considered a branched alkane. Any alkane that has all the carbon atoms adjacent only to 1 or 2 carbon atoms is an unbranched alkane.

What is the difference between branched and straight-chain alkanes?

The key difference between straight and branched chain alkanes is that in straight-chain alkanes, all the carbon atoms bond with each other forming a continuous chain whereas branched-chain alkanes have side chains attached to a continuous carbon chain.

What are branched chain alkenes?

Alkenes are acyclic (branched or unbranched) hydrocarbons having one carbon-to-carbon double bond (C=C) and the general molecular formula C_nH_2n [16]. Because alkenes contain less than the maximum possible number of hydrogen atoms per carbon atom, they are said to be unsaturated.

What is a branched hydrocarbon?

Many hydrocarbons have branches of C atoms attached to a chain; they are called branched hydrocarbons. These branched alkanes are isomers of straight-chain alkanes having the same number of C atoms. There are a series of rules for naming branched alkanes (and, ultimately, for all organic compounds).

What does branched mean in chemistry?

Branched: A molecule or polymer with a nonlinear backbone. Branches sprout from one or more atoms of the main skeleton (or from monomers along the chain of a polymer).

What does it mean for an alkane to be unbranched?

An alkane is a type of hydrocarbon (a compound consisting of only carbon and hydrogen atoms). Unbranched alkanes have all their carbon atoms in a single chain. Hexane. Hexane is an unbranched, saturated alkane containing six carbon atoms.

What does branched mean in biology?

Meaning of Branching: Branches are the similar members of the stems. The axillary buds develop into branches by the elongation of the internodes accompanied by enlargement and expansion of the leaves. The mode of arrangement of the branches is called branching.

What does unbranched mean?

1: having no branches a straight unbranched trunk. 2: not divided into branches a leaf with unbranched veins.

What is meant by branched chain?

Branched-chain meaning (organic chemistry) Describing any aliphatic compound that contains a chain of carbon atoms in which at least one carbon atom is connected to three or four others, thus forming a branch.

Why are branched alkanes more stable?

Branched alkane hydrocarbons are thermodynamically more stable than straight-chain linear alkanes. Because the steric and quantum energy terms cancel, this leaves the electrostatic energy term that favors alkane branching.

What is branching in polymers?

In polymer chemistry, branching occurs by the replacement of a substituent, e.g., a hydrogen atom, on a monomer subunit, by another covalently bonded chain of that polymer; or, in the case of a graft copolymer, by a chain of another type. Polymers which are branched but not crosslinked are generally thermoplastic.

Which molecule is a branched alkane?

Butane and 2-methylpropane are structural isomers. 2-methylpropane is an example of a type of alkane called a branched alkane.

What is a branched alkyl?

An alkane can be appended onto an existing chain to create a branched molecule. This branched piece of the molecule is called a substituent. A substituent made from an alkane is called an alkyl group. Alkyl groups are named similarly to unbranched alkane chains.