Question

State how the following conversion can be carried out from Ethene to Ethyl alcohol

Answer 1

Conversion Ethene to Ethyl alcohol

• When vapors of Ethene $\left({\mathrm{C}}_2{\mathrm{H}}_4\right)$ is passes through Water $\left({\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\right)$ in presence of Sulfuric acid $\left({\mathrm{H}}_2{\mathrm{SO}}_4\right)$then Ethyl alcohol $\left({\mathrm{C}}_2{\mathrm{H}}_5\mathrm{OH}\right)$ is going to be produced.
• The chemical reaction is as follows.

$\underset{\mathrm{Ethene}}{{\mathrm{CH}}_2={\mathrm{CH}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Water}}{{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)}\stackrel{{\mathrm{H}}_2{\mathrm{SO}}_4}{\to }\mathrm{C}\underset{\mathrm{Ethyl}\mathrm{alcohol}}{{\mathrm{H}}_3-{\mathrm{CH}}_2-\mathrm{OH}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)}$

• The above reaction is an example of hydration reaction.