BRAINCAKECyclic Compounds
In many organic compounds the carbon atoms form open chains, which may be straight or branched. These are aliphatic compounds. In cyclic compounds, some of the carbon atoms are joined in a ring.
There are two kinds of cyclic hydrocarbon.
Alicyclic compounds have a ring that is not aromatic. The cycloalkanes are the simplest examples: cyclopropane, C3H6, cyclobutane, C4H8, cyclopentane, C5H10, and cyclohexane, C6H12. They are named by adding the prefix cyclo to the name of the alkane with the same number of carbon atoms.
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Key terms in this lesson
- skeletal formula
- A structure showing a carbon chain as a zigzag of lines, with carbon and hydrogen atoms on carbon not shown.
More in Introduction to Organic Chemistry
- Hydrocarbons
- Saturated and Unsaturated Hydrocarbons
- Types of Formulae
- Functional Groups
- Homologous Series
- Naming Organic Compounds
- Practice Question - 1
- Practice Question - 2
All 13 lessons in Introduction to Organic Chemistry · All Edexcel AS-level Chemistry topics