adjective
- of, relating to, or being an organic compound that is not aromatic; containing carbon chains or rings that are not benzene-based
Usage: chemistry term; commonly used in organic chemistry and biochemistry
Examples
- Alkanes and alkenes are examples of aliphatic hydrocarbons.
- The aliphatic compounds in the sample were separated from the aromatic ones using chromatography.
- Aliphatic amino acids lack a benzene ring in their side chains.
- The chemist studied the properties of aliphatic versus aromatic molecules.
- Petroleum contains both aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons.