Why are alkenes unsaturated?

1 Answer
MeneerNask
Mar 24, 2016

We call an organic compound saturated if all available valence bonds of the #C#'s are bonded to #H# (or other functional groups)

Explanation:

An alkene has a double bond, which means that two of the available bonds are used to bind two #C#'s. This bond can be opened (under the right circumstances) to allow two more #H#'s into the compound.

Compare Ethene: #H_2-C=C-H_2#

With Ethane:#H_3-C-C-H_3#

Ethane has all the #H#'s it can take, and is thus called "saturated"

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