This free online chemistry course delves into alkanes and alkenes, which are saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons.

Hydrocarbons obtained from crude oil are a source of energy. Their combustion produces carbon dioxide and water. This chemistry course describes hydrocarbons in detail and outlines the key differences between their two main categories, saturated and unsaturated compounds, known as alkanes and alkenes. The first topic explored is saturated alkanes or compounds with only single bonds, which are sigma C-C or C-H covalent bonds. You'll also learn about their general formula, naming convention and some of the physical properties of alkanes, such as their states based on the carbon numbers, boiling points and solubility in organic solvents.

After that, we investigate the drilling and refining of crude oil procedures together with all the fractional distillation columns. Next, we explore how alkanes can undergo combustion or substitution reactions and why burning hydrocarbons results in air pollution. The course moves on to discuss alkenes, which are a series of homologous hydrocarbons with one double bond per molecule. You'll study the rules for naming them and their various reactions, such as the addition of hydrogen and the addition of halogen halides and water that follows Markovnikov's rule.

Then we examine the oxidation of alkenes, which generates carbon dioxide and water, and the reaction of dilute and concentrated potassium manganate with them, which produces diols and ketone or aldehyde. Following that, you'll discover the testing of unsaturation using bromine and potassium manganate. You'll learn about polymerization, various addition polymerization reactions, and the polymers that result from these processes and are used to create plastic goods. Finally, you'll find out why plastics take a long time to decompose and the benefits and problems associated with their burning. Advance your understanding of organic chemistry with this engaging course.