Question

Draw structures for a saturated hydrocarbon that has a molecular ion with an m/zvalue of 128.

Short answer

The first compound is nonane, second compound is 2-methyloctane and the third compound is 4-methyloctane.

Step-by-step solution

Step-by-step-solutionStep 1: Saturated hydrocarbons

Saturated hydrocarbons constitute hydrocarbons where the carbon-carbon bonds are single bonds. This is used to indicate alkanes, an acyclic hydrocarbon comprising only ${\mathbf{sp}}^3$ hybridized carbon atoms. An example of a saturated hydrocarbon is propane.

Structure of a saturated hydrocarbon with m/z value of 128

Dividing 128 by 13 gives 9 and the remaining part is 11. So the base value is ${\mathrm{C}}_9{\mathrm{H}}_{20}$.As the compound is a saturated hydrocarbon, the base value is the molecular formula of the compound. Some of the possible structures can be given as:

Possible structures of the compound

The first compound is nonane, second compound is 2-methyloctane and the third compound is 4-methyloctane.