ALKANES
The Alkanes
Alkanes are a group of saturated hydrocarbons
o The term saturated means that they only have single carbon-carbon bonds, there are no
double bonds
The general formula of the alkanes is CnH2n+2
They are colourless compounds which have a gradual change in their physical properties as the
number of carbon atoms in the chain increases
Alkanes are generally unreactive compounds but they do undergo combustion reactions, can
be cracked into smaller molecules and can react with halogens in the presence of light
Methane is an alkane and is the major component of natural gas
This table shows the first five members of the alkane homologous series
Halogens & Alkanes
In a substitution reaction, one atom is swapped with another atom
Alkanes undergo a substitution reaction with halogens in the presence of ultraviolet radiation
The equation for the reaction is
CH4 + Br2 → CH3Br + HBr
methane + bromine → bromomethane + hydrogen bromide
Chlorine will also react with alkanes to form chloromethane
CH4 + Cl2 → CH3Cl + HCl
methane + chlorine → chloromethane + hydrogen chloride
The products belong to a family called halogenoalkanes or haloalkanes
Halogenoalkanes have many uses a solvents, refrigerants, propellants and pharmaceuticals
ALKENES
The Alkenes
All alkenes contain a double carbon bond, which is shown as two lines between two of the
carbon atoms i.e. C=C
All alkenes contain a double carbon bond, which is the functional group and is what allows
alkenes to react in ways that alkanes cannot
The names and structure of the first four alkenes are shown below:
Table Showing the Formulae and Structures of the First Four Alkenes
Compounds that have a C=C double bond are also called unsaturated compounds
That means they can make more bonds with other atoms by opening up the C=C bond and
allowing incoming atoms to form another single bond with each carbon atom of the functional
group
Each of these carbon atoms now forms 4 single bonds instead of 1 double and 2 single bonds
This makes them much more reactive than alkanes
Bromine & Alkenes
Alkenes are a homologous series of hydrocarbon compounds with at least one double
bond between two of the carbon atoms on the chain
The double bond can be written as carbon carbon double bond or as C=C
The general formula for alkenes is:
CnH2n
Alkenes are generally more desirable than alkanes as they are more reactive due to the
presence of the carbon-carbon double bond, so they can take part in reactions in which alkanes
cannot, making them more useful than alkanes
They are used to make polymers and are the starting materials for the production of many
other chemicals
Two useful reactions are the bromination of alkenes and polymerisation
Bromination of Ethene
Alkenes undergo addition reactions in which atoms of a simple molecule add across the C=C
double bond
The reaction between bromine and ethene is an example of an addition reaction
The same process works for any halogen and any alkene in which the halogen atoms always add
to the carbon atoms across the C=C double bond
Bromine atoms add across the C=C in the addition reaction of ethene and bromine
Testing for Alkenes
Bromine Water Test
Alkanes and alkenes have different molecular structures
All alkanes are saturated and alkenes are unsaturated
The presence of the C=C double bond allows alkenes to react in ways that alkanes cannot
This allows us to tell alkenes apart from alkanes using a simple chemical test called the bromine
water test
Diagram showing the result of the test using bromine water with alkanes and alkenes
Bromine water is an orange coloured solution
When bromine water is added to an alkane, it will remain as an orange solution as alkanes do
not have double carbon bonds (C=C) so the bromine remains in solution
But when bromine water is added to an alkene, the bromine atoms add across the C=C bond,
hence the solution no longer contains free bromine so it loses its colour
