In fact the uniqueness of carbon comes from the fact that it can bind to itself in many different ways. There appears to be almost no limit to the number of different structures that carbon can form. Single bonding Double bonding Triple bonding Keep in mind that each carbon atom forms 4 bonds. The simplest hydrocarbons are those that contain only carbon and hydrogen. These simple hydrocarbons come in three varieties depending on the type of carbon-carbon bonds that occur in the molecule.
Alkanes are the first class of simple hydrocarbons and contain only carbon-carbon single bonds.
The alkanes are named by combining a prefix that describes the number of carbon atoms in the molecule with the root ending 'ane'. The names and prefixes for the 1st 10 alkanes are given below. The structural formula, shown for the 1st 5 alkanes above, shows each carbon atom and the elements that are attached to it. This structural formula is important when we begin to discuss more complex hydrocarbons. The simple alkanes share many properties in common.