Alkane - Chemical Properties

Chemical Properties

In general, alkanes show an alkane activity, because their C bonds are relatively stable and cannot be easily broken. Unlike most other organic compounds, they possess no functional groups.

They react only very poorly with ionic or other polar substances. The acid dissociation constant (pK_a) values of all alkanes are above 60, hence they are practically inert to acids and bases (see: carbon acids). This inertness is the source of the term paraffins (with the meaning here of "lacking affinity"). In crude oil the alkane molecules have remained chemically unchanged for millions of years.

However redox reactions of alkanes, in particular with oxygen and the halogens, are possible as the carbon atoms are in a strongly reduced condition; in the case of methane, the lowest possible oxidation state for carbon (−4) is reached. Reaction with oxygen (if an amount of the least is enough to meet the reaction stoichiometry) leads to combustion without any smoke; with halogens, substitution. In addition, alkanes have been shown to interact with, and bind to, certain transition metal complexes in (See: carbon-hydrogen bond activation).

Free radicals, molecules with unpaired electrons, play a large role in most reactions of alkanes, such as cracking and reformation where long-chain alkanes are converted into shorter-chain alkanes and straight-chain alkanes into branched-chain isomers.

In highly branched alkanes, the bond angle may differ significantly from the optimal value (109.5°) in order to allow the different groups sufficient space. This causes a tension in the molecule, known as steric hindrance, and can substantially increase the reactivity.