what is aliphatic compound

An aliphatic compound is an organic compound containing carbon and hydrogen joined together in straight chains, branched chains, or non-aromatic rings. In organic chemistry, hydrocarbons are divided into two classes: aromatic compounds and aliphatic compounds. Aliphatic compounds can be saturated, joined by single bonds (alkanes), or unsaturated, with double bonds (alkenes) or triple bonds (alkynes) /09%3A_Organic_Chemistry/9.02%3A_Aliphatic_Hydrocarbons). Open-chain compounds, whether straight or branched, and which contain no rings of any type, are always aliphatic. Cyclic compounds can be aliphatic if they are not aromatic. If other elements (heteroatoms) are bound to the carbon chain, the most common being oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and chlorine, it is no longer a hydrocarbon, and therefore no longer an aliphatic compound. However, such compounds may still be referred to as aliphatic if the hydrocarbon portion of the molecule is aliphatic. Examples of aliphatic compounds include n-, iso- and cyclo-alkanes (saturated hydrocarbons) .