List of straight-chain alkanes explained

The following is a list of straight-chain alkanes, the total number of isomers of each (including branched chains), and their common names, sorted by number of carbon atoms.^{[1] [2]}

Number of C atoms	Number of isomers^[3]	Number of isomers including stereoisomers	Molecular Formula	Name of straight chain	Synonyms
align=right	1	align=right	1	align=right	1		methane	methyl hydride; natural gas
align=right	2	align=right	1	align=right	1		ethane	dimethyl; ethyl hydride; methyl methane
align=right	3	align=right	1	align=right	1		propane	dimethyl methane; propyl hydride
align=right	4	align=right	2	align=right	2		n-butane	butyl hydride; methylethyl methane
align=right	5	align=right	3	align=right	3		n-pentane	amyl hydride; Skellysolve A
align=right	6	align=right	5	align=right	5		n-hexane	dipropyl; Gettysolve-B; hexyl hydride; Skellysolve B
align=right	7	align=right	9	align=right	11		n-heptane	dipropyl methane; Gettysolve-C; heptyl hydride; Skellysolve C
align=right	8	align=right	18	align=right	24		n-octane	dibutyl; octyl hydride
align=right	9	align=right	35	align=right	55		n-nonane	nonyl hydride; Shellsol 140
align=right	10	align=right	75	align=right	136		n-decane	decyl hydride
align=right	11	align=right	159	align=right	345		n-undecane	hendecane
align=right	12	align=right	355	align=right	900		n-dodecane	adakane 12; bihexyl; dihexyl; duodecane
align=right	13	align=right	802	align=right			n-tridecane
align=right	14	align=right		align=right			n-tetradecane
align=right	15	align=right		align=right			n-pentadecane
align=right	16	align=right		align=right			n-hexadecane	cetane
align=right	17	align=right		align=right			n-heptadecane
align=right	18	align=right		align=right			n-octadecane
align=right	19	align=right		align=right			n-nonadecane
align=right	20	align=right		align=right			n-icosane	didecyl icosane
align=right	21	align=right		align=right			n-heneicosane	henicosane
align=right	22	align=right		align=right			n-docosane
align=right	23	align=right		align=right			n-tricosane
align=right	24	align=right		align=right			n-tetracosane
align=right	25	align=right		align=right			n-pentacosane
align=right	26	align=right		align=right			n-hexacosane	cerane
align=right	27	align=right		align=right			n-heptacosane
align=right	28	align=right		align=right			n-octacosane
align=right	29	align=right		align=right			n-nonacosane
align=right	30	align=right		align=right			n-triacontane
align=right	31	align=right		align=right			n-hentriacontane	untriacontane
align=right	32	align=right		align=right			n-dotriacontane	dicetyl
align=right	33	align=right		align=right			n-tritriacontane
align=right	34	align=right		align=right			n-tetratriacontane
align=right	35	align=right		align=right			n-pentatriacontane
align=right	36	align=right		align=right			n-hexatriacontane
align=right	37	align=right		align=right			n-heptatriacontane
align=right	38	align=right		align=right			n-octatriacontane
align=right	39	align=right		align=right			n-nonatriacontane
align=right	40	align=right		align=right			n-tetracontane
align=right	41	align=right		align=right			n-hentetracontane
align=right	42	align=right		align=right			n-dotetracontane
align=right	43	align=right		align=right			n-tritetracontane
align=right	44	align=right		align=right			n-tetratetracontane
align=right	45	align=right		align=right			n-pentatetracontane
align=right	46	align=right		align=right			n-hexatetracontane
align=right	47	align=right		align=right			n-heptatetracontane
align=right	48	align=right		align=right			n-octatetracontane
align=right	49	align=right		align=right			n-nonatetracontane
align=right	50	align=right		align=right			n-pentacontane
align=right	51	align=right		align=right			n-henpentacontane
align=right	52	align=right		align=right			n-dopentacontane
align=right	53	align=right		align=right			n-tripentacontane
align=right	54	align=right		align=right			n-tetrapentacontane
align=right	55	align=right		align=right			n-pentapentacontane
align=right	56	align=right		align=right			n-hexapentacontane
align=right	57	align=right		align=right			n-heptapentacontane
align=right	58	align=right		align=right			n-octapentacontane
align=right	59	align=right		align=right			n-nonapentacontane
align=right	60	align=right		align=right			n-hexacontane
align=right	61	align=right		align=right			n-henhexacontane
align=right	62	align=right		align=right			n-dohexacontane
align=right	63	align=right		align=right			n-trihexacontane
align=right	64	align=right		align=right			n-tetrahexacontane
align=right	65	align=right		align=right			n-pentahexacontane
align=right	66	align=right		align=right			n-hexahexacontane
align=right	67	align=right		align=right			n-heptahexacontane
align=right	68	align=right		align=right			n-octahexacontane
align=right	69	align=right		align=right			n-nonahexacontane
align=right	70	align=right		align=right			n-heptacontane
align=right	71	align=right		align=right			n-henheptacontane
align=right	72	align=right		align=right			n-doheptacontane
align=right	73	align=right		align=right			n-triheptacontane
align=right	74	align=right		align=right			n-tetraheptacontane
align=right	75	align=right		align=right			n-pentaheptacontane
align=right	76	align=right		align=right			n-hexaheptacontane
align=right	77	align=right		align=right			n-heptaheptacontane
align=right	78	align=right		align=right			n-octaheptacontane
align=right	79	align=right		align=right			n-nonaheptacontane
align=right	80	align=right		align=right			n-octacontane
align=right	81	align=right		align=right			n-henoctacontane
align=right	82	align=right		align=right			n-dooctacontane
align=right	83	align=right		align=right			n-trioctacontane
align=right	84	align=right		align=right			n-tetraoctacontane
align=right	85	align=right		align=right			n-pentaoctacontane
align=right	86	align=right		align=right			n-hexaoctacontane
align=right	87	align=right		align=right			n-heptaoctacontane
align=right	88	align=right		align=right			n-octaoctacontane
align=right	89	align=right		align=right			n-nonaoctacontane
align=right	90	align=right		align=right			n-nonacontane
align=right	91	align=right		align=right			n-hennonacontane
align=right	92	align=right		align=right			n-dononacontane
align=right	93	align=right		align=right			n-trinonacontane
align=right	94	align=right		align=right			n-tetranonacontane
align=right	95	align=right		align=right			n-pentanonacontane
align=right	96	align=right		align=right			n-hexanonacontane
align=right	97	align=right		align=right			n-heptanonacontane
align=right	98	align=right		align=right			n-octanonacontane
align=right	99	align=right		align=right			n-nonanonacontane
align=right	100	align=right		align=right			n-hectane
align=right	101	align=right		align=right			n-henihectane
align=right	102	align=right		align=right			n-dohectane
align=right	103	align=right		align=right			n-trihectane
align=right	104	align=right		align=right			n-tetrahectane
align=right	105	align=right		align=right			n-pentahectane
align=right	106	align=right		align=right			n-hexahectane
align=right	107	align=right		align=right			n-heptahectane
align=right	108	align=right		align=right			n-octahectane
align=right	109	align=right		align=right			n-nonahectane
align=right	110	align=right		align=right			n-decahectane
align=right	111	align=right		align=right			n-undecahectane
align=right	112	align=right		align=right			n-dodecahectane
align=right	113	align=right		align=right			n-tridecahectane
align=right	114	align=right		align=right			n-tetradecahectane
align=right	115	align=right		align=right			n-pentadecahectane
align=right	116	align=right		align=right			n-hexadecahectane
align=right	117	align=right		align=right			n-heptadecahectane
align=right	118	align=right		align=right			n-octadecahectane
align=right	119	align=right		align=right			n-nonadecahectane
align=right	120	align=right		align=right			n-icosahectane

See also

• Higher alkane
• List of compounds with carbon numbers 50+

Notes and References

1. Web site: organic chemistry - How to determine number of structural isomers? . . 29 March 2019.
2. Web site: Paraffins - Rosetta Code . rosettacode.org . 29 March 2019 . 13 January 2019.
3. Fujita . Shinsaku . Alkanes as Stereoisomers. Enumeration by the Combination of Two Dichotomies for Three-Dimensional Trees . MATCH Commun. Math. Comput. Chem. . 2007 . 57 . 2 . 328 (PDF p. 30) . 29 March 2019 . 0340-6253.