ORGANIC CHEMISTRY I

Sources And Uses of Alkane

by
NI KETUT SEPMIARNI (1113031087)

CHEMISTRY EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

MATHEMATICS AND NATURAL SCIENCES FACULTY
UNIVERSITAS PENDIDIKAN GANESHA
2014

PREFACE
Thanks to the God almighty who has bless us to finishing this paper with
the title Sources and Uses of Alkane. This paper is made for our assignment in
Organic Chemistry I. In process to create this paper, the author found some
problem. It because of the authors knowledge still need to improvement. But
because of the guidance and big support from many people, so it can be finished.
Therefore, the author wants to say thanks to the:
1. Drs. I Wayan Muderawan, M.S., Ph.D. as Lecture who has guide the author,
2. The authors friends in A Class who has supported,
3. And many others who has supported the author.
This paper is still need improvement and still contains many of mistakes,
because of that the author need advice and critics to make this paper will be better
and can useful for many people.
Singaraja, September 2014
Author

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CONTENT

PREFACE................................................................................................................ii
CONTENT..............................................................................................................iii
CHAPTER I.............................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................1
1.1 Background.....................................................................................................1
1.2 Problem Statement..........................................................................................2
1.3 Objectives.......................................................................................................2
CHAPTER II............................................................................................................3
EXPLANATION......................................................................................................3
2.1 The Source of Alkane.....................................................................................3
2.2 The Uses of Alkane.........................................................................................8
CHAPTER III.........................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION......................................................................................................10
3.1 Conclusion....................................................................................................10
REFERENCES.......................................................................................................11

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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
Carbon can form more compounds than any other element because
carbon atoms are able not only to form single, double, and triple carboncarbon bonds, but also to link up with each other in chains and ring structures.
The branch of chemistry that deals with carbon compounds is organic
chemistry. Most organic compounds are derived from a group of compounds
known as hydrocarbons because they are made up of only hydrogen and
carbon. On the basis of structure, hydrocarbons are divided into two main
classes

aliphatic

and

aromatic

(Raymond

Chang,

2010). Aliphatic

hydrocarbons do not contain the benzene group, or the benzene ring, whereas
aromatic hydrocarbons contain one or more benzene rings. Aliphatic
hydrocarbons are divided into alkanes, alkenes, and alkynes.
The essential characteristic of alkane hydrocarbon molecules is that only
single covalent bonds are present. The alkanes are known as saturated
hydrocarbons because they contain the maximum number of hydrogen atoms
that can bond with the number of carbon atoms present. The simplest alkane
(that is, with n=1 to n= 4) is methane CH4, which is a natural product of the
anaerobic bacterial decomposition of vegetable matter under water (Raymond
Chang, 2010).
Because it was first collected in marshes, methane became known as
marsh gas. A rather improbable but proven source of methane is termites.
When these voracious insects consume wood, the microorganisms that inhabit
their digestive system break down cellulose (the major component of wood)
into methane, carbon dioxide, and other compounds. An estimated 170 million
tons of methane are produced annually by termites! It is also produced in
some sewage treatment processes. Beside this source and uses of one kind of
alkane (methane), there are also various source and uses of alkane. This paper
will discuss about alkane especially the source and uses of alkane.

1.2 Problem Statement

1. What is the source of alkane?
2. What are uses of alkane?
1.3 Objectives
1. To know the source of alkane.
2. To know uses of alkane.

CHAPTER II
EXPLANATION
2.1 The Source of Alkane
The simplest organic compounds are hydrocarbons, compounds containing
only carbon and hydrogen. There are some functional groups of hydrocarbon. A
functional group is a reactive portion of a molecule that undergoes predictable
reactions (Raymond Chang, 2010). Many functional groups contain an atom other
than carbon such as O, N, S and halogen. Some common functional groups are
listed in Table 1.
Table 1. Common Functional Groups
Structure

Prefix or suffix

Class of Compound

>C=C<

-ene

Alkene

CH2=CH2

-CC-

-yne

Alkyne

HCCH

-X

halo-

Haloalkane

CH3Cl

-ol

Alcohol

CH3OH

-oxy

Ether

-al

Aldehyde

R-CO-R

-one

Ketone

CH3COCH3

R-COOH

-oic acid

Carboxylic acid

CH3COOH

R-COO-R

-oate

Ester

R-NH2

-amine

Amina

CH3NH2

R-CO-NH-R

-amide

Amida

CH3CONHCH3

-O-H
R-O-R
-CHO

Typical example

CH3CH2OCH2CH3
CH3CHO

CH3COOCH3

In this paper is focusing in alkanes especially the source and uses of alkane.
Alkanes are hydrocarbons that contain only single bonds. The alkanes are the
simplest and least reactive class of organic compounds because they contain only
hydrogen and sp3 hybridized carbon, and they have no reactive functional groups.

The simplest alkane (that is, with n=1 to n= 4) is methane CH4, which is a natural
product of the anaerobic bacterial decomposition of vegetable matter under water.
Alkane is main component of natural gas and petroleum.

Petroleum

deposits are widely distributed throughout the world, but they are found mainly in
North America, Mexico, Russia, China, Venezuela, and, of course, the Middle
East. The actual composition of petroleum varies with location. In the United
States, for example, Pennsylvania crude oils are mostly aliphatic hydrocarbons,
whereas the major components of western crude oils are aromatic in nature.
Although petroleum contains literally thousands of hydrocarbon compounds, we
can classify its components according to the range of their boiling points. These
hydrocarbons can be separated on the basis of molar mass by fractional
distillation. Heating crude oil to about 400C converts the viscous oil into hot
vapor and fluid. In this form it enters the fractionating tower (Anonime, 2014).
The vapor rises and condenses on various collecting trays according to the
temperatures at which the various components of the vapor liquefy. Some gases
are drawn off at the top of the column, and the unvaporized residual oil is
collected at the bottom. Gasoline is probably the best-known petroleum product. A
mixture of volatile hydrocarbons, gasoline contains mostly alkanes, cycloalkanes,
and a few aromatic hydrocarbons. Some of these compounds are far more suitable
for fueling an automobile engine than others, and herein lies the problem of the
further treatment and refinement of gasoline.
Table 2. Formulas and Physical Properties of Alkanes
Alkane
Methane

Number
of
Carbon
1

Formula
CnH2n+2

Structure

bp
(oC)

mp
(oC)

Density
(g/mL)

H-CH2-H

CH4

-164

-183

0.55

Ethane

H-(CH2)2-H

C2H6

-89

-183

0.51

Propane

H-(CH2)3-H

C3H8

-42

-189

0.50

Butane

H-(CH2)4-H

C4H10

-138

0.58

Pentane

H-(CH2)5-H

C5H12

36

-130

0.63

Hexane

H-(CH2)6-H

C6H14

69

-95

0.66

Heptane

H-(CH2)7-H

C7H16

98

-91

0.68

Octane

H-(CH2)8-H

C8H18

126

-57

0.70

Nonane

H-(CH2)9-H

C9H20

151

-51

0.72

Decane

10

H-(CH2)10-H

C10H22

174

-30

0.73

Undecane

11

H-(CH2)11-H

C11H24

196

-26

0.74

Dodecane

12

H-(CH2)12-H

C12H26

216

-10

0.75

Tridecane

13

H-(CH2)13-H

C13H28

235

-5

0.76

Tetradecane

14

H-(CH2)14-H

C14H30

254

0.76

Pentadecane

15

H-(CH2)15-H

C15H32

271

10

0.77

Hexadecane

16

H-(CH2)16-H

C16H34

287

18

0.77

Eicosane

20

H-(CH2)20-H

C20H42

343

37

0.79

Triacontane

30

H-(CH2)30-H

C30H62

>450 66

0.81

As a class, alkanes generally are unreactive. The names saturated

hydrocarbon, or "paraffin," which literally means "not enough affinity" [L.
par(um), not enough, + affins, affinity], arise because their chemical "affinity" for
most common reagents may be regarded as "saturated" or satisfied. Thus none of
the C-H or C-C bonds in a typical saturated hydrocarbon, for example ethane, are
attacked at ordinary temperatures by a strong acid, such as sulfuric acid (H 2SO4),
or by an oxidizing agent, such as bromine (in the dark), oxygen, or potassium
permanganate (KMnO4). Under ordinary conditions, ethane is similarly stable to
reducing agents such as hydrogen, even in the presence of catalysts such as
platinum, palladium, or nickel (Anonime, 2014). However, all saturated
hydrocarbons are attacked by oxygen at elevated temperatures and, if oxygen is in
excess, complete combustion to carbon dioxide and water occurs. Vast quantities
of hydrocarbons from petroleum are utilized as fuels for the production of heat
and power by combustion, although it is becoming quite clear that few of the
nations of the world are going to continue to satisfy their needs (or desires) for
energy through use of petroleum the way it has been possible in the past.

Petroleum differs considerably in composition depending on their source.

However, representative petroleum on distillation yields the following fractions:
1. Gas fraction, boiling point up to 40, contains normal and branched
alkanes from C1 to C5. Natural gas is mainly methane and ethane.
"Bottled" gas (liquefied petroleum gas) is mainly propane and butane.
2. Gasoline, boiling point from 40o to 180o, contains mostly hydrocarbons
from C6 to C10. Over 100 compounds have been identified in gasoline, and
these include continuous-chain and branched alkanes, cycloalkanes, and
alkylbenzenes (arenes). The branched alkanes make better gasoline than
their continuous- chain isomers because they give less "knock" in highcompression gasoline engines.
3. Kerosine, boiling point 180o to 230, contains hydrocarbons from C11 to
C12. Much of this fraction is utilized as jet engine fuels or is "cracked" to
simpler alkanes (and alkenes).
4. Light gas oil, boiling point 230o to 305o, C13 to C17, is utilized as diesel and
furnace fuels.
5. Heavy gas oil and light lubricating distillate, boiling point 305o to 405o, C18
to C25.
6. Lubricants, boiling point 405o to 515o, C26 to C38. Familiarly encountered
as paraffin wax and petroleum jelly (Vaseline).
7. The distillation residues are known as asphalts.
The way in which petroleum is refined and the uses for it depend very much
on supply and demand, which always are changing. Gasolines are usually rated
according to the octane number, a measure of their tendency to cause knocking.
On this scale, a branched C8 compound (2,2,4-trimethylpentane, or isooctane) has
been arbitrarily assigned an octane number of 100, and that of n-heptane, a
straight-chain compound, is zero. The higher the octane number of the
hydrocarbon, the better its performance in the internal combustion engine.

Aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene and toluene have high octane numbers
(106 and 120, respectively), as do aliphatic hydrocarbons with branched chains.
The octane rating of hydrocarbons can be improved by the addition of small
quantities of compounds called antiknocking agents (Raymond Chang, 2010). A
fractional distillation column for separating the components of petroleum crude
oil can be seen as figure below.

Figure 1. A fractional distillation column for separating the components of

petroleum crude oil (Raymond Chang, 2010)

2.2 The Uses of Alkane

As describe above, so the uses of alkane can be stated by table below.

Table 3. Uses of Alkane

Product

Carbon Molecular Boiling Melting

Chain
Formula
Point
Point

State

Uses

Methane

C1

CH4

-161

-182.5

Gas

Fuel,
carbon
black,
gasoline

Ethane

C2

C2H5

-88

-183.3

Gas

Chemistry

Gas

Cigarette
lighters
fuel,
and
barbecues

Gas

Cigarette
lighters
fuel,
and
barbecues

Propane

Butane

C3

C4

C3H8

C4H10

-46

-1

-189.7

-138.40

Pentane

C5

C5H12

36.1

-127.7

Liquid

Solvents,
dry
cleaning,
refrigerant

Hexane

C6

C6H14

68.7

-95.3

Liquid

Motor fuel

Heptane

C7

C7H16

98.4

-90.6

Liquid

Solvents

Octane

C8

C8H18

125.7

-56.5

Liquid

Solvents

Nonane

C9

C9H20

150.8

-29.7

Liquid

Solvents

Decane

C10

C10H22

174.1

Liquid

Solvents

Kerosene

C12
C16

200
315

Liquid

Diesel,
heating oil,
lighting/oil
stove fuels

Fuel Oil

C15
C18

Up to
375

Liquid

Furnace
oils, dieels

C16
C20

350 up

Liquid

Lubricating
Oils

Lubrication

Grease,
Vaseline

C20 &
up

ParaffinWax

C26 &
up

Pitch an
Tar

C26 &
up

Petroleum
Coke

C26 &
up

Semisolid

Lubrication,
sizing paper

Solid

Candles,
match
sticks,
household
canning

Residue

Roofing,
paving,
rubber

Residue

Fuel,
carbon
electrode

CHAPTER III
CONCLUSION
3.1 Conclusion
1. The main source of alkane is natural gas and petroleum.
2. The uses of alkane are as fuel, cigarette lighters fuel, motor fuel,
solvent and barbecues, its depend on the product of alkane.

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REFERENCES

Anonime. (n.d.). Alkane. Retrieved August 28, 2014, from Source and Uses of
Alkane: http://www.google.com/bpoc/source-use-alkane-pdf.
Chang, Raymond. 2010. Chemistry Tenth Edition. New York: Mc Graw Hill
Company.

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