why don't hydrocarbons have hydrogen bonding?
Hydrocarbons do not have hydrogen bonding because hydrogen bonding occurs when a hydrogen atom is bonded to a highly electronegative atom such as nitrogen, oxygen, or fluorine. Hydrocarbons consist only of carbon and hydrogen atoms, so there are no electronegative atoms to form hydrogen bonds.
To understand why hydrogen bonding does not exist in hydrocarbons, it is helpful to understand what hydrogen bonding is. Hydrogen bonding is a type of intermolecular force that occurs between molecules with hydrogen atoms bonded to electronegative atoms. In these cases, the hydrogen atom becomes partially positively charged, while the electronegative atom becomes partially negatively charged. This charged region on one molecule can then attract the opposite charge on another molecule, resulting in a hydrogen bond.
In organic compounds, such as hydrocarbons, the electronegative atom necessary for hydrogen bonding is absent. Hydrocarbons consist solely of carbon and hydrogen atoms, with carbon being much less electronegative than nitrogen, oxygen, or fluorine. As a result, hydrogen bonding is not possible in hydrocarbons.
Instead, hydrocarbons exhibit other types of intermolecular forces, such as London dispersion forces or van der Waals forces. These forces are weaker than hydrogen bonding but still play important roles in determining the physical and chemical properties of hydrocarbons.