Is Benzene an Alkene?

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Is Benzene an Alkene?

The molecule benzene was first discovered by a chemist named Michael Faraday in 1825 whilst he was analysing an unknown chemical derived from whale oil. This compound was named benzene, however not much was known about it at this point in time. In 1866, the eventual structure of benzene was discovered by a chemist name Kekulé, whose idea of the structure of Benzene appeared to him in a dream. Benzene possesses special properties however, and goes against the suggested trends of other hydrocarbons (namely, alkenes). Benzene has the formula C6H6; a ratio of carbon to hydrogen of 1:1 suggests high reactivity and instability. Benzene however is fairly inert, and fails to undergo reactions that would normally be characterised by other alkenes. This leads to the conclusion that benzene may not be an alkene.

An alkene is defined as being an unsaturated chemical compound, with at least one carbon-carbon double bond. As the formula for benzene is C6H6, one would assume that the structure of benzene does contain one of these double bonds, and therefore would be prone to taking part in addition reactions with an electrophile such as Br2. What is actually observed is