Difference Between Acyclic and Cyclic Organic Compounds

Thekey differencebetween acyclic and cyclic organic compounds is thatacyclic compounds are linear compounds, whereas cyclic compounds are non-linear compounds.

有机化学中的无环和循环化合物是根据其化学结构进行分类的两种主要类型的化合物。大多数无环有机化合物具有环状isomers。Therefore, we name linear or acyclic compounds using the prefix “n-”.

内容

1.Overview and Key Difference
2.What are Acyclic Organic Compounds
3.什么是循环有机化合物
4.Side by Side Comparison – Acyclic vs Cyclic Organic Compounds in Tabular Form
5.概括

What are Acyclic Organic Compounds?

无环有机化合物是具有基本线性结构的化合物。这些也被称为open-chain compounds。这些是线性结构而不是循环结构。此外，如果这种无环化合物没有附着的侧链，它们是直链化合物。所有这些分子都是aliphaticcompounds.

Most simple compounds in organic chemistry, including alkanes and alkenes, have both acyclic and cyclic isomers. Most cyclic structures of these compounds tend to bearomatic, having stable structures. Moreover, in the organic compounds having more than four carbon atoms per molecule, the acyclic molecule usually has straight-chain or branched-chain isomers. When naming these compounds, we can use the prefix “n-” in order to denote the straight-chain isomer. E.g. n-butane is the straight-chain butane molecule.

Straight chain molecules are not straight always since these molecules have bond angles that are often not 180 degrees. However, the term linear in this context refers to the schematically straight molecular structure. E.g. straight-chain alkenes usually have a wavy or “puckered” conformation rather than a straight structure.

什么是循环有机化合物?

Cyclic organic compounds are chemical compounds having a basic non-linear structure. In other words, these are ring structures. One or more series of atoms in the compound is connected to form a ring structure.

There are different sizes of rings, depending on the number of atoms involved in the ring formation. Moreover, there are cyclic organic compounds where all the atoms in the ring structure are carbon atoms and ring structures containing both carbon and other atoms such as oxygen and nitrogen atoms. Further, these cyclic compounds can be either aromatic or non-aromatic. Aromatic cyclic compounds contain a ring structure with alternating single and double/triple bonds, which makes a delocalized pi-electron cloud and makes the compound unsaturated. Non-aromatic cyclic compounds, on the other hand, contain either only single bonds or both single and double/ triple bonds in a non-alternating pattern.

What is the Difference Between Acyclic and Cyclic Organic Compounds?

在有机化学中，环状化合物和循环化合物是基于分子的基本结构进行分类的两个主要化合物组。无环和循环有机化合物之间的关键区别在于无环化合物是线性化合物，而环状化合物是非线性化合物。所有无环有机化合物都是非芳基化合物，但环状有机化合物可以是芳香族化合物或非芳香族化合物。

Below infographic shows the differences between acyclic and cyclic organic compounds in tabular form.

概括– Acyclic vs Cyclic Organic Compounds

Acyclic and cyclic compounds are the two main groups of compounds that are categorized based on the basic structure of the molecule. The key difference between acyclic and cyclic organic compounds is that acyclic compounds are linear compounds, whereas cyclic compounds are non-linear compounds.

Reference:

1.“无环化合物”。基于结构的有机化合物和反应性中间体的类名称的词汇表。Available here。

Image Courtesy:

1. Jynto的“ Nonane 3D Ball”（Talk） - 自己的作品此图像是通过Discovery Studio Visualizer（CC0）通过Commons Wikimedia
2. “First four cycloalkanes” By Pete Davis – Own work (Public Domain) viaCommons Wikimedia