The key difference between heptane and hexane is that heptane is an alkane having seven carbon atoms whereas hexane is an alkane having six carbon atoms.
Both heptane and hexane fall into the category of alkanes. Where, alkanes are hydrocarbons which contain carbon and hydrogen atoms bound with each other via single covalent bonds. Moreover, these compounds have their carbon atoms bound to each other, forming a carbon chain, and the hydrogen atoms bind with each carbon atom.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Heptane
3. What is Hexane
4. Side by Side Comparison – Heptane vs Hexane in Tabular Form
5. Summary
What is Heptane?
Heptane is an organic compound containing seven carbon atoms bound to each other, forming an alkane. Also, it contains 16 hydrogen atoms. All these atoms form C-H bonds with carbon atoms. Hence, there are C-C bonds and C-H bonds in this compound. The structure is as follows:
Figure 01: Atomic Structure of Heptane
Some Chemical Facts about Heptane
- The chemical formula of heptane is C7H16
- Molar mass is 100.205 g/mol.
- Appears colorless
- Occurs in the liquid state at standard temperature and pressure
- Has a petrolic odor
- Melting point is -90.6°C and boiling point is 98.5°C
Considering its usefulness, heptane is useful as a nonpolar solvent in laboratories. It can dissolve organic compounds. Also, it can act as an extracting solvent. Furthermore, it is a component of some paints and coatings.
What is Hexane?
Hexane is an organic compound containing six carbon atoms bonded to each other forming an alkane. It contains carbon and hydrogen atoms forming C-C bonds and C-H bonds. Thus, the unbranched structure of hexane is as follows:
Figure 02: Hexane Structure
Some Chemical Facts about Hexane
- Chemical formula is C6H14.
- Molar mass is 86.178 g/mol.
- It appears as a colorless liquid
- Has a petrolic odor
- Melting point may range from −96 to −94 °C and the boiling point ranges from 68.5 to 69.1 °C.
Mainly, hexane is useful in laboratories as an extracting solvent to extract grease and oil contaminants from water or soil. Besides, in industrial applications, hexane is useful as a component in the formulations of glues for shoes, leather products, etc. Moreover, it is useful for the extraction of cooking oils from seeds. Also, hexane is useful as a nonpolar solvent in chromatographic applications.
What is the Difference Between Heptane and Hexane?
Heptane is an organic compound containing seven carbon atoms bound to each other forming an alkane while hexane is an organic compound containing six carbon atoms bonded to each other forming an alkane. Hence, the key difference between heptane and hexane is that heptane has seven carbon atoms whereas hexane has six carbon atoms.
Moreover, the chemical formula of heptane is C7H16 and the chemical formula of hexane is C6H14. When considering the production of heptane and hexane, we can obtain heptane from Jeffrey pine oil but hexane is obtained by refining crude oil. Furthermore, one other difference between heptane and hexane is that heptane has nine isomers while hexane has five isomers.
Summary – Heptane vs Hexane
Both heptane and hexane are organic compounds. Also, they fall under the category of alkanes in which n double or triple bonds present. In summary, the key difference between heptane and hexane is that heptane is an alkane having seven carbon atoms whereas hexane is an alkane having six carbon atoms.
Reference:
1. Karen I. Bolla, Jean Lud Cadet, in Textbook of Clinical Neurology (Third Edition), 2007
2. “Heptane.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Compound Database, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Available here.
Image Courtesy:
1. “HeptaneFull” By Walkerma – Own work (CC0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Hexane-2D-B” By Ben Mills – Own work (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia