Question

How can you change Ethene to Ethanal?

Answer 1

Ethene can be converted into ethanal by Wacker’s process. In this process, ethene is hydrolysed in the presence of Palladium(II) Chloride $\left(Pd{Cl}_2\right)$ solution and $Cu{Cl}_2$ as a catalyst to form ethanal.

$\underset{\text{Ethene}}{C_2{H}_2}+H_{2}O+Pd{Cl}_2\stackrel{Cu{Cl}_2}{\to }\underset{\text{Ethanal}}{C{H}_{3}CHO}+2HCl+Pd$