How many structural isomers does butane have?

1 Answer
Jan 2, 2018

Butane has just two structural isomers: i-butane and n-butane.

Explanation:

n-butane, normal butane, #C_4H_10#
The first one is the normal,unbranched butane. We add the prefix "n-" to the main name "butane".

Lewis structure:
upload.wikimedia.org
Skeletal diagram:
upload.wikimedia.org

i-butane, isobutane, #C_4H_10#
The second one is isobutane, "branched" butane. We add the prefix "i-" to the main name. The second name for i-butane is
2-methylpropane

upload.wikimedia.org

upload.wikimedia.org