Alicíclicos

Alicíclicos are organic compounds that contain rings of atoms, but these rings do not have the alternating double and single bonds characteristic of aromatic compounds. The name itself comes from the Greek word "alos," meaning salt, and "kyklos," meaning circle. These structures are often compared to cycloalkanes, cycloalkenes, and cycloalkynes, which are unsaturated cyclic hydrocarbons. However, the term alicyclic is broader and can encompass cyclic compounds containing heteroatoms such as oxygen, nitrogen, or sulfur within the ring, as well as cyclic compounds with functional groups. The key distinguishing feature is the absence of aromaticity, meaning the rings do not exhibit the delocalized pi electron system that confers special stability and reactivity to aromatic molecules like benzene. Alicyclic compounds can vary greatly in size and complexity, from small, simple rings like cyclopropane to large, intricate structures found in natural products. Their chemical properties are generally similar to their open-chain counterparts, with reactivity dictated by the types of bonds and functional groups present. For instance, cycloalkanes behave like alkanes, undergoing substitution reactions, while cycloalkenes and cycloalkynes show addition reactions.