Alkane (wántιng) is an open-chain saturated group. All carbon atoms in the molecule are connected by a single bond, and other valence bonds are combined with hydrogen. The general formula is CnH2n+2, which is the simplest organic compound. The main sources of alkanes are oil and natural gas, which are important chemical raw materials and energy materials.

Compounds composed of only two elements, hydrocarbons, are called hydrocarbons, or hydrocarbons for short. According to the different molecular skeleton of hydrocarbons, hydrocarbons can be divided into chain hydrocarbons (aliphatic hydrocarbons) and cyclic hydrocarbons (alicyclic hydrocarbons). Chain hydrocarbons can be divided into saturated hydrocarbons and unsaturated hydrocarbons. Among them, saturated hydrocarbons are alkanes, and the overall structure is mostly organic compounds composed of hydrocarbon atoms with carbon-carbon single bonds and hydrocarbon single bonds. Saturation means that the combination of carbon atoms and other atoms in the molecule reaches the maximum.