Aliphatic compound: Encyclopedia - Aliphatic compound

Aliphatic compound

In chemistry, aliphatic compounds are non-aromatic and non-cyclic organic compounds. They include not only the fatty acids and other derivatives of the paraffin hydrocarbons, but also unsaturated compounds, such as the ethylene (alkene) and acetylene (alkyne) series. Aliphatic molecules consist, generally, of a backbone of carbon atoms and other atoms bound to this carbon chain — most frequently hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and various halides. The simplest aliphatic compound is methane (CH₄).

See also

• Carbon-carbon bond

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Aliphatic compound", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki