Skip to main content
Chemistry LibreTexts

IR2. Hydrocarbon Spectra

  • Page ID
    4169
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    All organic and biological compounds contain carbon and hydrogen, usually with various other elements as well. Hydrocarbons are compounds containing only carbon and hydrogen, but no other types of atoms. Since all organic compounds contain carbon and hydrogen, looking at hydrocarbon spectra will tell us what peaks are due to the basic C&H part of these molecules. It is sometimes useful to think of the C&H part of a molecule as the basic skeleton or scaffolding used to construct the molecule. The other atoms often form more interesting and active features, like the doors, windows and lights on a building.

    The simplest hydrocarbons contain only single bonds between their carbons, and no double or triple bonds. These hydrocarbons are variously referred to as saturated hydrocarbons, paraffins or alkanes. Examples of alkanes include hexane and nonane. (You can take a look at the Glossary to see what these names tell you about the structure.)

    hexane.gif

    Look at the IR spectrum of hexane. You should see:


    This page titled IR2. Hydrocarbon Spectra is shared under a CC BY-NC 3.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Chris Schaller.

    • Was this article helpful?