Ball-and-stick models of the pentane molecule

Pentane is an organic compound, that is, an alkane with five carbon atoms. The term may refer to any of three structural isomers, or to a mixture of them: in the IUPAC nomenclature, however, pentane means exclusively the n-pentane isomer; the other two are called isopentane and neopentane. Cyclopentane is not an isomer of pentane because it has only 10 hydrogen atoms where pentane has 12. Pentanes are components of some fuels and are employed as specialty solvents in the laboratory. Their properties are very similar to those of butanes and hexanes. Pentanes are some of the primary blowing agents used in the production of polystyrene foam and other foams. Usually, a mixture of n-cyclopentane, i-cyclopentane, and increasingly cyclopentane is used for this purpose. Acid-catalyzed isomerization gives isopentane, which is used in producing high-octane fuels. Contributor: Junjie Chen, ORCID: 0000-0001-5055-4309, E-mail address: [e-mail], Department of Energy and Power Engineering, School of Mechanical and Power Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, 2000 Century Avenue, Jiaozuo, Henan, 454000, P.R. China