Question

Describe the oxidation of methane and ethane to the corresponding alcohol, aldehyde and acid

Answer 1

Oxidation is a chemical process of adding oxygen to the organic compounds to get useful products.

1. Methane$\mathrm{\left(}{\mathrm{CH}}_{\mathrm{4}}\mathrm{\right)}$ is an alkane containing single carbon and four hydrogen atoms.

The oxidation of Methane to Methanol$\mathrm{\left(}{\mathrm{CH}}_{\mathrm{3}}\mathrm{OH}\mathrm{\right)}$, Formaldehyde$\mathrm{\left(}\mathrm{HCHO}\mathrm{\right)}$ and Formic acid$\mathrm{\left(}\mathrm{HCOOH}\mathrm{\right)}$ is as indicated below:

$\underset{\left(\mathrm{Methane}\right)}{{\mathrm{CH}}_4\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}\underset{{\mathrm{K}}_2{\mathrm{Cr}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_7}{\overset{\left(\mathrm{O}\right)}{\to }}\underset{\left(\mathrm{Methanol}\right)}{{\mathrm{CH}}_3\mathrm{OH}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)}\underset{{\mathrm{K}}_2{\mathrm{Cr}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_7}{\overset{\left(\mathrm{O}\right)}{\to }}\underset{\left(\mathrm{Formaldehyde}\right)}{\mathrm{HCHO}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)}\underset{{\mathrm{K}}_2{\mathrm{Cr}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_7}{\overset{\left(\mathrm{O}\right)}{\to }}\underset{\left(\mathrm{Formic}\mathrm{acid}\right)}{\mathrm{HCOOH}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)}$

2. Ethane$\mathrm{\left(}{\mathrm{C}}_{\mathrm{2}}{\mathrm{H}}_{\mathrm{6}}\mathrm{\right)}$ is an alkane having two carbons and six hydrogen atoms.

The oxidation of Ethane to Ethanol$\mathrm{\left(}{\mathrm{C}}_{\mathrm{2}}{\mathrm{H}}_{\mathrm{5}}\mathrm{OH}\mathrm{\right)}$, Acetaldehyde and Acetic acid$\mathrm{\left(}{\mathrm{CH}}_{\mathrm{3}}\mathrm{COOH}\mathrm{\right)}$ is as indicated below:

$\underset{\left(\mathrm{Ethane}\right)}{{\mathrm{C}}_2{\mathrm{H}}_6\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}\underset{{\mathrm{K}}_2{\mathrm{Cr}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_7}{\overset{\left(\mathrm{O}\right)}{\to }}\underset{\left(\mathrm{Ethanol}\right)}{{\mathrm{C}}_2{\mathrm{H}}_5\mathrm{OH}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)}\underset{{\mathrm{K}}_2{\mathrm{Cr}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_7}{\overset{\left(\mathrm{O}\right)}{\to }}\underset{\left(\mathrm{Acetaldehyde}\right)}{{\mathrm{CH}}_3\mathrm{CHO}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)}\underset{{\mathrm{K}}_2{\mathrm{Cr}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_7}{\overset{\left(\mathrm{O}\right)}{\to }}\underset{\left(\mathrm{Acetic}\mathrm{acid}\right)}{{\mathrm{CH}}_3\mathrm{COOH}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)}$