Saturation
Related Category: Chemistry: General
of an organic compound, condition occurring when its molecules contain no double or triple bonds and thus cannot undergo addition reactions. For example, ethane (H
3C&sbond;CH
3) is a saturated compound. A compound is called unsaturated if it can undergo addition reactions. In the unsaturated compound ethene (H
2C&dbond;CH
2), the carbon-carbon double bond readily reacts, e.g., with hydrogen to form ethane.
