BRAINCAKEEthanol by Hydration of Ethene
Industrially, ethanol is made on a large scale by the hydration of ethene with steam:
CH2=CH2(g) + H2O(g) ⇌ CH3CH2OH(g)
Conditions: a concentrated phosphoric acid catalyst (H3PO4), a temperature of about 300 °C and a pressure of about 60 to 70 atm. Only about 5% of the ethene reacts on each pass, so unreacted ethene is recycled, giving an overall conversion of about 95%.
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Key terms in this lesson
- carbocation
- A positively charged carbon atom formed as a reactive intermediate when a bond breaks heterolytically.
More in Alcohols
- Alcohols
- Naming Alcohols
- Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Alcohols
- Ethanol by Fermentation
- Biofuels and Carbon Neutrality
- Oxidation of Alcohols
- Oxidation of Primary Alcohols to Aldehydes and Carboxylic Acids
- Oxidation of Secondary Alcohols
All 13 lessons in Alcohols · All AQA AS-level Chemistry topics