In
organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clayden, J ...
, the carbon number of a compound is the number of
carbon
Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon ma ...
atoms in each molecule.
[Nava Dayan, Lambros Kromidas (ed.) ''Formulating, Packaging, and Marketing of Natural Cosmetic Products'' John Wiley & Sons, 2011;
; page 218 ]
The properties of
hydrocarbon
In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and hydrophobic, and their odors are usually weak or ...
s can be correlated with the carbon number, although the carbon number alone does not give an indication of the
saturation
Saturation, saturated, unsaturation or unsaturated may refer to:
Chemistry
* Saturation, a property of organic compounds referring to carbon-carbon bonds
**Saturated and unsaturated compounds
** Degree of unsaturation
**Saturated fat or fatty aci ...
of the organic compound. When describing a particular molecule, the "carbon number" is also the ordinal position of a particular carbon atom in a chain.
Compounds by carbon number
*
1
*
2
*
3
*
4
*
5
*
6
*
7
*
8
*
9
*
10
*
11
*
12
*
13
*
14
*
15
*
16
*
17
*
18
*
19
*
20
*
21
*
22
*
23
*
24
*
25–29
*
30–39
*
40–49
*
50+
50 may refer to:
* 50 (number)
* one of the following years 50 BC, AD 50, 1950, 2050
* .50 BMG, a heavy machine gun cartridge also used in sniper rifles
*.50 Action Express, a large pistol cartridge commonly used in the Desert Eagle
*.50 GI, a wi ...
See also
*
IUPAC nomenclature of organic chemistry
In chemical nomenclature, the IUPAC nomenclature of organic chemistry is a method of naming organic chemical compounds as recommended by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). It is published in the '' Nomenclature of O ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carbon number