1. Organic compounds that do not contain an aromatic ring or do not exhibit aromatic properties; substances lacking the characteristic stability and reactivity of aromatic molecules.
Usage: chemistry; plural form; technical term

Examples

• The refinery separates aromatics from nonaromatics during the distillation process.
• Nonaromatics such as alkanes and alkenes have different chemical properties than benzene derivatives.
• The laboratory analyzed the mixture to determine the ratio of aromatics to nonaromatics.
• Nonaromatics are typically more reactive in addition reactions compared to aromatic compounds.
• The petroleum fraction contained both aromatics and nonaromatics that required separate processing.