if I had ethane reacting with chlorine would the chlorine remove two hydrogens and form dicholorethane?
The information I can find speaks volumes about the formation of an alkyl halide from an alkane (such as chloretnane from ethane) but nothing is said about the addition of a second chlorine to make dichloroethane, or if it does add a second Cl atom, why it would go to a different C atom and not to the same C to which the first Cl attached itself.
so chloroethane and HCL?
Yes but I would write it as HCl.
CL doesn't exist.
oh ok, thanks :)
Yes, if ethane (C2H6) reacts with chlorine (Cl2), it will undergo a substitution reaction, often referred to as chlorination. In this reaction, the chlorine will replace hydrogen atoms in ethane, resulting in the formation of dichloroethane (C2H4Cl2).
To understand how this reaction occurs, let's break it down step-by-step:
Step 1: Initiation
The reaction starts with the initiation step, where chlorine molecules (Cl2) are broken down into highly reactive chlorine radicals (Cl•). This process is usually initiated by either heat or light. For example:
Cl2 → 2Cl•
Step 2: Propagation
In the propagation step, the chlorine radicals react with ethane. One chlorine radical attacks an ethane molecule, replacing one of the hydrogen atoms to form a chloroethane molecule (C2H5Cl) and generating a new ethyl radical (C2H5•). The ethyl radical can further react with another chlorine molecule to form another chloroethane molecule and produce a new chlorine radical. The reaction proceeds as follows:
C2H6 + Cl• → C2H5Cl + H•
H• + Cl2 → HCl + Cl•
Step 3: Termination
The termination step involves combination reactions where radicals react with each other, resulting in the formation of stable molecules. For example:
2Cl• → Cl2 (elimination of chlorine radicals)
2C2H5• → C2H5-C2H5 (formation of ethane)
Overall reaction:
C2H6 + Cl2 → C2H5Cl + HCl
So, the reaction of ethane with chlorine would indeed result in the formation of dichloroethane (C2H4Cl2) by removing two hydrogen atoms from ethane and replacing them with two chlorine atoms.