History

Ethane was first synthetically created in 1834 by Michael Faraday, applyingelectrolysis of

a potassium acetate solution. He mistook the hydrocarbon product of this reaction for methane,
and did not investigate it further.[1] During the period 1847–1849, in an effort to vindicate the
radical theory of organic chemistry, Hermann Kolbeand Edward Frankland produced ethane by
the reductions of propionitrile (ethyl cyanide)[2] and ethyl iodide[3] 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.

Its name was made from the name of ether, which at first meant diethyl ether.

[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 1561 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/mol

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 peroxideinto
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 the ethoxy radical into
a methyl radical and formaldehyde, which can in turn
undergo further oxidation.

C2H5O• → CH3• + CH2O

Some minor products in the incomplete

combustion of ethane
include acetaldehyde,methane, methanol,
and ethanol. At higher temperatures, especially
in the range 600–900 °C, ethylene is a
significant product. It arises via reactions like

C2H5• + O2 → C2H4 + •OOH

Similar reactions (although with species

other than oxygen as the hydrogen
abstractor) are involved in the production
of ethylene from ethane in steam cracking.