Dictionary of Environmental Health
A hydrocarbon in which the molecules have utilised all of the bonding electrons to make single bonds with other atoms – it does not contain any double or triple bonds.
As a consequence the molecule possesses a full complement of hydrogen atoms and is therefore unable to combine with the atoms of other elements without giving up at least one hydrogen atom. A saturated hydrocarbon molecule is therefore more chemically stable than an UNSATURATED HYDROCARBON atom.
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