organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clayden, ...

, hexene is a

hydrocarbon In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and hydrophobic, and their odors are usually weak or ...

with the

chemical formula In chemistry, a chemical formula is a way of presenting information about the chemical proportions of atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound or molecule, using chemical element symbols, numbers, and sometimes also other symbol ...

. The prefix "hex" is derived from the fact that there are 6

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon mak ...

atoms in the molecule, while the "

-ene The suffix -ene is used in organic chemistry to form names of organic compounds where the -C=C- group has been attributed the highest priority according to the rules of organic nomenclature. Sometimes a number between hyphens is inserted before ...

" suffix denotes that there is an

alkene In organic chemistry, an alkene is a hydrocarbon containing a carbon–carbon double bond. Alkene is often used as synonym of olefin, that is, any hydrocarbon containing one or more double bonds.H. Stephen Stoker (2015): General, Organic, an ...

present—two carbon atoms are connected via a

double bond In chemistry, a double bond is a covalent bond between two atoms involving four bonding electrons as opposed to two in a single bond. Double bonds occur most commonly between two carbon atoms, for example in alkenes. Many double bonds exist betwee ...

. There are several isomers of hexene,Hexene
Merriam-Webster Dictionary depending on the position and geometry of the double bond in the chain. One of the most common industrially useful isomers is 1-hexene, an

alpha-olefin In organic chemistry, alpha-olefins (or α-olefins) are a family of organic compounds which are alkenes (also known as olefins) with a chemical formula , distinguished by having a double bond at the primary or alpha (α) position.''Petrochemical ...

. Hexene is used as a

comonomer In polymer chemistry, a comonomer refers to a polymerizable precursor to a copolymer aside from the principal monomer. In some cases, only small amounts of a comonomer are employed, in other cases substantial amounts of comonomers are used. Furthe ...

in the production of

polyethylene Polyethylene or polythene (abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most commonly produced plastic. It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging ( plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including b ...

Isomers

The following is a partial list of hexenes. There are a total of 13 different alkene isomers of hexene, excluding additional geometric (E/Z) and optical (R/S) isomers: * hex-1-ene * hex-2-ene (E/Z) * hex-3-ene (E/Z) * 2-methylpent-1-ene * 3-methylpent-1-ene (R/S) * 4-methylpent-1-ene * 2-methylpent-2-ene * 3-methylpent-2-ene (E/Z) * 4-methylpent-2-ene (E/Z) * 2,3-dimethylbut-1-ene * 3,3-dimethylbut-1-ene * 2-ethylbut-1-ene * 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene

References

Alkenes {{Hydrocarbon-stub

Isomers

See also

References