The Melting Point Alternation in the Short-Chainn-Alkanes: Single-Crystal X-Ray Analyses of Propane at 30 K and ofn-Butane ton-Nonane at 90 K
- 1 April 1999
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Angewandte Chemie International Edition in English
- Vol. 38 (7) , 988-992
- https://doi.org/10.1002/(sici)1521-3773(19990401)38:7<988::aid-anie988>3.0.co;2-0
Abstract
A less dense packing is observed in the odd-numbered n-alkanes compared to the even-numbered members, which consequently lowers melting temperatures. The reason for this is that the even-numbered n-alkanes have optimal intermolecular interactions at both ends (see the picture on the left), while the odd-numbered ones possess these only at one end—at the other end the intermolecular distances are longer (right)This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: