Ethane

IUPAC name[hide] Ethane[1]

Identifiers CAS number PubChem ChemSpider UNII EC number UN number MeSH ChEBI ChEMBL RTECS number Beilstein Reference Jmol-3D images 74-84-0 6324 6084 L99N5N533T 200-814-8 1035 Ethane CHEBI:42266 CHEMBL135626 KH3800000 1730716 Image 1 SMILES
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InChI
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Properties Molecular formula Molar mass Appearance Odor

C 2H 6 30.07 g mol1 Colorless gas Odorless 1.3562 mg cm3 (at 0 C)[1] 0.5446 g cm3 (at 184 K)[2]

Density

Melting point Boiling point Solubility in water Vapor pressure kH Acidity (pKa) Basicity (pKb)

-183 C, 90.4 K, -297 F -89 C, 184.6 K, -127 F 56.8 mg L1[3] 3.8453 MPa (at 21.1 C) 19 nmol Pa1 kg1 50 -36 Thermochemistry

Std enthalpy of formation fHo298 Std enthalpy of combustion cHo298 Specific heat capacity, C

84 kJ mol1

1561.01560.4 kJ mol1 52.49 J K1 mol1 Hazards

MSDS GHS pictograms

External MSDS

GHS signal word GHS hazard statements GHS precautionary statements EU Index EU classification

DANGER H220 P210, P410+403 601-002-00-X

F+

R-phrases S-phrases

R12 (S2), S9, S16, S33

NFPA 704

4 1 0
135 C 472 C 2.913% Related compounds

Flash point Autoignition temperature Explosive limits

Methane Methyl iodide Diiodomethane Iodoform Carbon tetraiodide Ethyl iodide Propane n-Propyl iodide Isopropyl iodide Pimagedine Guanidine

Related alkanes

Related compounds

Diiodohydroxypropane

Supplementary data page Structure and properties Thermodynamic data Spectral data n, r, etc. Phase behaviour Solid, liquid, gas UV, IR, NMR, MS (verify) (what is: / ?) Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 C, 100 kPa) Infobox references

Ethane is a chemical compound with chemical formula C2H6. It is the only two-carbon alkane that is an aliphatic hydrocarbon. At standard temperature and pressure, ethane is a colorless, odorless gas. Ethane is isolated on an industrial scale from natural gas, and as a byproduct of petroleum refining. Its chief use is as petrochemical feedstock for ethylene production.

Contents
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1 History 2 Chemistry o 2.1 Combustion o 2.2 Ethane barrier 3 Production 4 Uses 5 Health and safety 6 Atmospheric and extraterrestrial ethane 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External links

[edit] History

Ethane was first synthetically created in 1834 by Michael Faraday, applying electrolysis of a potassium acetate solution. He mistook the hydrocarbon product of this reaction for methane, and did not investigate it further.[4] During the period 18471849, in an effort to vindicate the radical theory of organic chemistry, Hermann Kolbe and Edward Frankland produced ethane by the reductions of propionitrile (ethyl cyanide)[5] and ethyl iodide[6] with potassium metal, and, as did Faraday, by the electrolysis of aqueous acetates. They, however, mistook the product of these reactions for methyl radical, rather than the dimer of methyl, ethane. This error was corrected in 1864 by Carl Schorlemmer, who showed that the product of all these reactions was in fact ethane.[7] The name ethane is derived from the IUPAC nomenclature of organic chemistry. "Eth-" refers to the presence of 2 carbon atoms, and "-ane" refers to the presence of a single bond between them.

[edit] Chemistry
In the laboratory, ethane may be conveniently prepared by Kolbe electrolysis. In this technique, an aqueous solution of an acetate salt is electrolysed. At the anode, acetate is oxidized to produce carbon dioxide and methyl radicals, and the highly reactive methyl radicals combine to produce ethane: CH3COO CH3 + CO2 + e CH3 + CH3 C2H6 Another method, the oxidation of acetic anhydride by peroxides, is conceptually similar. The chemistry of ethane also involves chiefly free radical reactions. Ethane can react with the halogens, especially chlorine and bromine, by free radical halogenation. This reaction proceeds through the propagation of the ethyl radical: C2H5 + Cl2 C2H5Cl + Cl Cl + C2H6 C2H5 + HCl Because halogenated ethanes can undergo further free radical halogenation, this process results in a mixture of several halogenated products. In the chemical industry, more selective chemical reactions are used for the production of any particular two-carbon halocarbon.

[edit] Combustion
The complete combustion of ethane releases 1559.7 kJ/mol, or 51.9 kJ/g, of heat, and produces carbon dioxide and water according to the chemical equation 2 C2H6 + 7 O2 4 CO2 + 6 H2O + 3170 kJ Combustion occurs by a complex series of free-radical reactions. Computer simulations of the chemical kinetics of ethane combustion have included hundreds of reactions. An important series

of reaction in ethane combustion is the combination of an ethyl radical with oxygen, and the subsequent breakup of the resulting peroxide into ethoxy and hydroxyl radicals. C2H5 + O2 C2H5OO C2H5OO + HR C2H5OOH + R C2H5OOH C2H5O + OH The principal carbon-containing products of incomplete ethane combustion are single-carbon compounds such as carbon monoxide and formaldehyde. One important route by which the carbon-carbon bond in ethane is broken to yield these single-carbon products is the decomposition of