Undecane (also known as hendecane) is a liquid
alkane
In organic chemistry, an alkane, or paraffin (a historical trivial name that also has other meanings), is an acyclic saturated hydrocarbon. In other words, an alkane consists of hydrogen and carbon atoms arranged in a tree structure in whi ...
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 Hydrophobe, hydrophobic; their odor is usually fain ...
with the
chemical formula
A chemical formula is a way of presenting information about the chemical proportions of atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound or molecule, using chemical element symbols, numbers, and sometimes also other symbols, such as pare ...
CH
3(CH
2)
9CH
3. It is used as a mild sex attractant for various types of
moths
Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (suborder Rhopalocera) a ...
and
cockroach
Cockroaches (or roaches) are insects belonging to the Order (biology), order Blattodea (Blattaria). About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known Pest (organism), pests.
Modern cockro ...
es, and an alert signal for a variety of
ants
Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of ...
. It has 159
isomer
In chemistry, isomers are molecules or polyatomic ions with identical molecular formula – that is, the same number of atoms of each element (chemistry), element – but distinct arrangements of atoms in space. ''Isomerism'' refers to the exi ...
s.
Undecane may also be used as an internal standard in gas chromatography when working with other hydrocarbons. Since the boiling point of undecane (196 °C) is well known, it may be used as a comparison for retention times in a gas chromatograph for molecules whose structure has been freshly elucidated. For example, if one is working with a 50 m crosslinked methyl silicone capillary column with an oven temperature increasing slowly, beginning around 60 °C, an 11-carbon molecule like undecane may be used as an internal standard to be compared with the retention times of other 10-, 11-, or 12- carbon molecules, depending on their structures.
See also
*
Higher alkanes 320px
Higher alkanes are alkanes with a high number of carbon atoms. It is common jargon. One definition says higher alkanes are alkanes having nine or more carbon atoms. Thus, according to this definition, nonane is the lightest higher alkane ...
*
List of isomers of undecane
This is the list of 159 isomers of undecane.
Straight-chain
*Undecane
Decane
*2-Methyldecane
*3-Methyldecane
*4-Methyldecane
*5-Methyldecane
Nonane Ethyl
*3-Ethylnonane
*4-Ethylnonane
*5-Ethylnonane
Dimethyl
*2,2-Dimethylnonane
*2,3-Dimethyl ...
*
Cycloundecane
References
External links
Undecaneat Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases
{{Alkanes
Alkanes