Secondary carbon atom

Secondary carbon atom
Structural formula of propane (the secondary carbon atom is marked in red )

A secondary carbon atom is a carbon atom that is bonded to two other carbon atoms. For this reason, secondary carbon atoms are found in all hydrocarbons with at least three carbon atoms. In unbranched alkanes , the inner carbon atoms are always secondary carbon atoms (see figure).

	Comparison of secondary with primary , tertiary and quaternary carbon atoms ( red )
	Primary carbon atom	Secondary carbon atom	Tertiary carbon atom	Quaternary carbon atom
General structure (R = organyl residue )
Extract from structural formula

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hans Peter Latscha, Uli Kazmaier, Helmut Alfons Klein: Organic Chemistry: Chemistry Basics II . 7th edition. Springer Spectrum, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-662-46180-8 , p. 40 .