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Alkenes

Last updated: June 2, 2020

What Does Alkenes Mean?

Alkenes are simply hydrocarbons which consist of carbon and hydrogen as their immediate constituent, with two hydrogen atoms for every carbon atom. Due to the presence of a double bond, the alkenes are considered unsaturated.

Alkenes react with other monomers or electrophiles to gain saturation by forming polymers. The oxidation of the alkenes can be used to by industries to form epoxides or epoxy resins which are used in paints as corrosion inhibitors. Their presence in crude oil helps in preventing corrosion by forming covalent bonds with other elements that encourage corrosion.

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Corrosionpedia Explains Alkenes

The structure of alkenes basically has a double bond which consists of two types of bonds: the sigma bond and the pi bond. The sigma bond is the strongest and thus cannot be easily affected. The pi bond is a weak bond which has a pair of electrons allowed to move freely along a prescribed region in the structure.

The pi bond makes the alkene a nucleophile, thus creating an opportunity for electrophiles to attack it so that all the bonds are sigma bonds. Reaction with metals requires ionic bonding to act as a corrosion process, therefore the alkenes do not have observable effects on metals. They are used in the oil industry to form coatings such as paints to prevent corrosion on metallic materials.

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