Structure and Molecular Correlation of Liquid Alkanes

The paper reports structural investigations of a series of liquid alkanes, from n-C$\text{}_{6}$H$\text{}_{14}$ (n-hexane) to n-C$\text{}_{16}$H$\text{}_{34}$ (n-hexadecane), differing by two methyl groups (CH$\text{}_{2}$)$\text{}_{2}$, n-C$\text{}_{20}$H$\text{}_{42}$ (n-eicosane) and n-C$\text{}_{30}$H$\text{}_{62}$ (n-triacontane) performed in temperatures from 20°C to 70°C. The average angular distribution of intensity was determined by diffraction of monochromatic X-ray radiation Mo K$\text{}_{α}$, λ = 0.7107 Å and the functions of radial distribution of electron density were calculated for the studied compounds. Mean structural parameters including distances between molecules and atoms, coordination numbers as well as correlation parameters were obtained. The suitability of the method for structural studies of n-alkanes with the number of carbon atoms from 6 to 30 is discussed.