What is the Difference Between Heptane and N-Heptane

The key difference between heptane and n-heptane is that heptane is an organic compound having seven carbon atoms arranged in either branched or non-branched structures, whereas n-heptane is the non-branched structure of the heptane molecule.

The chemical formula of heptane is C7H16. It is mainly useful as a nonpolar solvent. Heptane can dissolve many organic compounds, and it can also act as an extracting solvent.

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Heptane
3. What is N-Heptane
4. Relationship Between Heptane and N-Heptane
5. Heptane vs N-Heptane in Tabular Form
6. Summary

What is Heptane?

Heptane is an organic compound containing seven carbon atoms bound to each other, forming an alkane. It also 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 chemical formula of heptane is C7H16. The molar mass of this substance is 100.2 g/mol. It appears as a colourless liquid at room temperature and pressure. Moreover, heptane has a petrolic odour. It is mainly useful as a nonpolar solvent. Heptane can dissolve many organic compounds and can also act as an extracting solvent.

Heptane can exist in many isomeric forms. This solvent has a major application in distinguishing aqueous bromine from aqueous iodine through the extraction of aqueous bromine into heptane. Usually, both bromine and iodine appear in a brown colour. But when dissolved in heptane solvent, iodine gets a purple colour while bromine remains in brown colour.

On a commercial scale, heptane is available as a mixture of isomers that is used in paints and coatings. It is useful in rubber cement productions such as “Bestine” production, “Powerfuel” (an outdoor stove fuel), etc.

What is N-Heptane?

N-Heptane is the non-branched structure of the heptane molecule. The following image shows the chemical structure of N-Heptane.

There are many isomers and enantiomers of the heptane molecule because there are seven carbon atoms in this molecule that can arrange in different forms making branched structures and chiral centers. For example, isoheptane, neoheptane, 3-methylhexane, etc.

What is the Relationship Between Heptane and N-Heptane?

Generally, we use the term heptane to refer to all the different isomers of 7-carbon alkane molecule. The chemical structure of the heptane molecule can differ in various ways depending on the atomic connectivity and branches. If there is a straight chain of 7 carbon atoms without any substitution or any branches attached to the carbon chain (simply, a straight carbon chain of 7 carbon atoms, each carbon bonded to hydrogen atoms to form a saturated molecule), we call it n-heptane or normal heptane.

What is the Difference Between Heptane and N-Heptane?

The chemical formula of heptane is C7H16. It is mainly useful as a nonpolar solvent. Heptane can dissolve many organic compounds and can act as an extracting solvent. The key difference between heptane and n-heptane is that heptane is an organic compound having seven carbon atoms arranged in either branched or non-branched structures, whereas n-heptane is the non-branched structure of heptane molecule. Moreover, the properties of heptane can vary depending on the chemical structure, whereas N-heptane is a nonpolar, colourless liquid having a petrolic odour.

The following table summarizes the difference between heptane and n-heptane.

Summary – Heptane vs N-Heptane

The chemical formula of heptane is C7H16. It is mainly useful as a nonpolar solvent. Heptane can dissolve many organic compounds, and also it can act as an extracting solvent. The key difference between heptane and n-heptane is that heptane is an organic compound having seven carbon atoms arranged in either branched or non-branched structures, whereas n-heptane is the non-branched structure of the heptane molecule.

Reference:

1. “Heptane, Properties, Chemical Reactions.” Sciencealpha, 29 Oct. 2020.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Heptane 3D ball” By Jynto (talk) – Own work – Created with Discovery Studio Visualizer (CC0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “HeptaneFull” By Walkerma – Own work (CC0) via Commons Wikimedia