🔵Aromatic vs Aliphatic📏
Organic compounds split into aromatic and aliphatic families. The defining feature is whether a special delocalized ring is present.
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🔵Aromatic
- ✓Contains a benzene-like delocalized ring
- ✓Extra stability from electron delocalization
- ✓Undergoes substitution to preserve the ring
- ✓Often has a distinctive odor
- ✓Examples: benzene, toluene, naphthalene
📏Aliphatic
- ✓Open chains or non-aromatic rings
- ✓No special ring stabilization
- ✓Includes alkanes, alkenes and alkynes
- ✓Undergoes addition or substitution
- ✓Examples: hexane, ethene, cyclohexane
Verdict
Aromatic compounds owe their stability to a delocalized ring of pi electrons; aliphatic compounds lack it. That stability makes aromatics resist addition reactions.
Frequently asked
What makes a ring aromatic?+
It must be cyclic, planar, fully conjugated and follow Hückel's rule (4n+2 pi electrons).
Is cyclohexane aromatic?+
No. It is a saturated ring with no delocalized pi system, so it is aliphatic.
Why do aromatics prefer substitution?+
Substitution keeps the stable aromatic ring intact, while addition would destroy it.
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