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A hydrocarbon is an organic compound made entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are typically colorless and hydrophobic, with faint odors, and they occur in many molecular forms and physical states, including gases (e.g., methane, propane), liquids (e.g., hexane, benzene), low-melting solids (e.g., paraffin wax, naphthalene), and polymers (e.g., polyethylene, polystyrene). In the fossil-fuel industry, “hydrocarbon” commonly refers to naturally occurring petroleum, natural gas, and coal, along with their derivatives and purified forms. Hydrocarbons are classified by bonding patterns. Saturated hydrocarbons contain only single bonds (alkanes and cycloalkanes) and follow formulas such as CnH2n+2 for acyclic alkanes; cycloalkanes have one or more rings. Unsaturated hydrocarbons contain one or more double or triple bonds: alkenes have double bonds (CnH2n for non-cyclic structures), alkynes have triple bonds (CnH2n−2), and aromatic hydrocarbons (arenes) contain at least one aromatic ring. Hydrocarbons also have important structural features such as structural isomerism (same molecular formula, different connectivity) and chirality in some branched saturated hydrocarbons. In terms of basic reactivity, saturated hydrocarbons are relatively inert, while unsaturated and aromatic hydrocarbons react more readily via substitution, addition, and polymerization; at higher temperatures they can undergo dehydrogenation, oxidation, and combustion.
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