Naming Alkanes and Cycloalkanes

Information: Alkanes are hydrocarbons that do not contain multiple bonds. The first ten straight-chain alkanes are shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Names and structures of the first ten straight-chain alkanes (and alkyl groups)

Condensed Structure	Name of alkane	Stick Structure	Alkyl group Condensed Structure	Name of alkyl group substituent
CH4	Methane	none	-CH3	methyl
CH3CH3	Ethane		-CH2CH3	ethyl
CH3CH2CH3	Propane		-CH2CH2CH3	propyl
CH3CH2CH2CH3	Butane		-CH2CH2CH2CH3
CH3(CH2)3CH3	Pentane		-CH2(CH2)3CH3
CH3(CH2)4CH3	Hexane		-CH2(CH2)4CH3
CH3(CH2)5CH3	Heptane		-CH2(CH2)5CH3
CH3(CH2)6CH3			-CH2(CH2)6CH3	octyl
CH3(CH2)7CH3				nonyl
CH3(CH2)8CH3				decyl

Another way to draw structures of organic compounds is by drawing their Lewis structure, as shown below. (Note: we learned how to draw Lewis structures last semester).

Ethane

Critical Thinking Questions

Draw a complete Lewis structure for propane.

Complete