The key difference between biphenyl and naphthalene is that biphenyl is made from linking two phenyl groups through a single covalent bond, whereas naphthalene is made from the fusion of two benzene rings.
Biphenyl is an organic compound that occurs as colorless crystals, while naphthalene is an organic compound having the chemical formula C10H8.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Biphenyl
3. What is Naphthalene
4. Similarities Between Biphenyl and Naphthalene
4. Biphenyl vs Naphthalene in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Biphenyl vs Naphthalene
What is Biphenyl?
Biphenyl is an organic compound that occurs as colorless crystals. Particularly, the compounds consisting of the functional group biphenyl less one hydrogen tend to use its prefix as “xenyl” or “diphenyly.” This substance consists of a distinctive, pleasant odor. This is because it’s an aromatic hydrocarbon having the molecular formula (C6H5)2.
The biphenyl compound is important as starting material for the production of polychlorinated biphenyl, which is widely useful as dielectric fluids and heat transfer agents. Moreover, it is an intermediate for the production of a host of other organic compounds, including emulsifiers, optical brighteners, crop protection products, and plastics.
This substance is not water-soluble. However, it is soluble in some typical organic solvents. A molecule of biphenyl contains two connected phenyl rings, which cause this difference in solubility of this compound in solvents. Naturally, biphenyl occurs in coal tar, crude oil, and natural gas. Therefore, we can isolate it from sources via distillation. Industrially, it is produced as a byproduct of the dealkylation of toluene for the production of methane.
What is Naphthalene?
Naphthalene is an organic compound having the chemical formula C10H8. It is easy to identify this compound as the simplest polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compound. This substance can be found as a white crystalline solid that has a characteristic odor similar to coal tar, even at very low concentrations. When considering the structure of naphthalene, it has fused pair of benzene rings.
A naphthalene molecule tends to occur as a fusion of a pair of benzene rings. This results in the classification of this compound as a benzenoid polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon or PAH. There are eight carbon atoms that are not shared between the two ring structures. Each of these eight carbon atoms contains one hydrogen atom per carbon atom. In the nomenclature of this naphthalene molecule, the eight carbon atoms are numbered from 1 to 8 in a sequence around the perimeter of the molecule. This numbering starts with the carbon atom that is adjacent to a shared one. Generally, the shared carbon atoms are numbered as 4a and 8a.
Naphthalene molecule has a planar structure. However, unlike in the benzene ring, the C-C bonds in this molecule have different lengths. We can find this difference through X-ray diffraction, and it is consistent with the valence bond model in naphthalene.
Naphthalene substance is useful as a precursor to other chemical compounds, for the production of phthalic anhydride, many azo dyes, insecticides, and other useful agrochemicals.
What are the Similarities Between Biphenyl and Naphthalene?
- Biphenyl and Naphthalene are aromatic compounds.
- Both have aromatic rings combined to each other.
- They have a pleasant odor.
What is the Difference Between Biphenyl and Naphthalene?
Biphenyl and naphthalene are two chemically related and closely similar compounds. The key difference between biphenyl and naphthalene is that biphenyl is made from the linking of two phenyl groups through a single covalent bond, whereas naphthalene is made from the fusion of two benzene rings.
The below infographic presents the differences between biphenyl and naphthalene in tabular form for side by side comparison.
Summary – Biphenyl vs Naphthalene
Biphenyl is an organic compound that occurs as colorless crystals, while naphthalene is an organic compound having the chemical formula C10H8. The key difference between biphenyl and naphthalene is that biphenyl is made from the linking of two phenyl groups through a single covalent bond, whereas naphthalene is made from the fusion of two benzene rings.
Reference:
1. “Biphenyl.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Compound Database, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Image Courtesy:
1. “BiphenylSample” By Smokefoot – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Organic-chemistry-chemistry-science” (CC0) via Pixabay