Question

What is catenation?

Answer:

Catenation is the linkage of atoms of the same element to form longer chains.

Catenation is mainly observed in carbon. It forms covalent bonds with other carbon atoms to form longer structures.
The versatile chemistry of elemental sulfur is largely due to catenation. In the native state, sulfur exists as S8 molecules. On heating these rings open and link together giving rise to increasingly long chains, as evidenced by the progressive increase in viscosity as the chains lengthen. Selenium and tellurium also show variants of these structural motifs.


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