Alkanes
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Economically the most important thing about the alkanes is that they burn. Fuels such as gas, petrol and diesel consist mainly of alkanes.
The refining industry uses a series of processes such as cracking and reforming to produce the hydrocarbons needed for fuels and chemicals.
C-C and C-H bonds are unreactive towards reagents in aqueous solution because they are non-polar and strong bond.
Alkanes can be converted to more reactive chemicals by reaction with chlorine and bromine.
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updated: 02 March 2006

The refining industry uses a series of processes such as cracking and reforming to produce the hydrocarbons needed for fuels and chemicals.
