Existence of Innumerable Compounds of Carbon

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Following are the reasons for the presence of innumerable organic compounds:

Catenation (Self linking):

Catenation is defined as the property of atoms of the same kind to covalently link with one another to form linear chains, branched chains or rings.

Examples

:

- C - C - C - C -Linear chain

Multiple bonding:

Carbon atoms can satisfy their tetravalency either by single bonding, double bonding or triple bonding.

Examples

:

Isomerism:

The phenomenon of existence of organic compounds with the same molecular formula but different structures and properties.

Examples

:

With the same number of carbon atoms, it is possible to have different arrangement of atoms and therefore entirely different compounds. With five carbon atoms, it is possible to have three isomers; with ten carbon atoms it is possible to have 75 isomers and with 60 carbon atoms over a million isomers are possible.

Number of possible alkane isomers

Formula	No. of Isomers
C4H10	2
C5H12	3
C7H16	5
C8H18	9
C9H20	18
C10H22	35
C20H42	75
C30H62	366,319
C40H82	62, 491, 178, 805, 831