How are ethylene, and cyclobutane similar?

1 Answer
anor277
Apr 18, 2017

Well, they are both unsaturated species..........

Explanation:

Alkanes are saturated species, and have general the formula #C_nH_(2n+2)#.

Olefins, and rings, have the #1^@# of unsaturation with respect to alkanes, and have general formula #C_nH_(2n)#.

Alkynes have have the #2^@# of unsaturation with respect to alkanes, and have general formula #C_nH_(2n-2)#.

Each degree of unsaturation corresponds to 2 hydrogens less in the molecular formula; we use the alkane, #C_nH_(2n+2)#, as the reference molecule.

And thus both #"alkynes"# and #"olefins"# are unsaturated with respect to #"alkanes"#, and thus typically undergo addition reactions. And so to a first approximation, the chemistry of olefins and alkynes are similar.

Related questions
Impact of this question
278 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License