Advices For Studying Organic Chemistry

3. Nanotubes, a new class of carbon-based materials with strength roughly one
   hundred times that of steel, also have an exceptional toughness.


4. The properties of these materials depends on many things, but central to them is
   whether or not rotation is possible around C–C bonds.

4.1 INTRODUCTION TO ALKANES AND CYCLOALKANES

1. Hydrocarbons:
   
   
   1. Alkanes: CnH2n+2 (saturated)
      i) Cycloalkanes: CnH2n (containing a single ring)
      ii) Alkanes and cycloalkanes are so similar that many of their properties can be
      considered side by side.
   
   
   2. Alkenes: CnH2n (containing one double bond)
   
   
   3. Alkynes: CnH2n–2 (containing one triple bond)
   
   
   
   

4.1A SOURCES OF ALKANES: PETROLEUM

1. The primary source of alkanes is petroleum.

4.1B PETROLEUM REFINING

1. The first step in refining petroleum is distillation.


2. More than 500 different compounds are contained in the petroleum distillates
   boiling below 200 °C, and many have almost the same boiling points.


3. Mixtures of alkanes are suitable for uses as fuels, solvents, and lubricants.


4. Petroleum also contains small amounts of oxygen-, nitrogen-, and
   sulfur-containing compounds.