Question

A newly isolated natural product was found to have the molecular formula C15H28O2. By hydrogenating a sample of the compound, it was determined to possess one pi bond. How many rings are present in the compound?

Answer 1

One ring is present.

Step-by-step explanation:

The degree of unsaturation or double bond equivalents(DBE) can be determined by using a formula. This formula gives us the number of rings and / pi bonds.

As mentioned in the problem the number of pi bond is one so if we calculate the DBE this will give us the number of rings by subtracting one from DBE.

`DBE=C+1-(H)/(2)-(X)/(2)+(N)/(2)`

Where

C = number of carbon atoms

X = number of halogens

N = number of nitrogen

H = number of hydrogen

`DBE=15+1-((28)/(2))-(0)+(0)`

`DBE=16-14=2`

Thus the number of rings will be:

`Rings=2-1=1`