Question

HCL is added to propane what is the equation​

Answer 1

Answer:

Usually a question like this would be asked about an alkEne rather than an alkAne. Alkenes DO react via a carbocation intermediate, and the charge will localise in the position that gives the system the lowest energy, i.e. a secondary rather than a primary carbon, as Daniel has said.

Alkanes do not react with HCl via a carbocation intermediate though, but rather via a radical intermediate. Read this for a good explanation: Alkanes: Halogenation

Long story short, you end up with an alkyl radical intermediate, which will then react with a molecule of HCl to produce the alkyl halide.

So this begs the question, will the radical be formed preferentially on a primary carbon, or on the secondary carbon? And, can the radical move from one carbon to the next to achieve a lower energy state? I THINK, that a radical can form almost as well on a primary or secondary carbon, and that once formed, it can’t re-arrange. Therefore, the answer could be that propane has TWO primary carbons and only ONE secondary carbon. Chlorination of either end of the propane molecule will produce 1-chloropropane, while chlorination of the middle carbon will produce 2-chloropropane. Since there are two end carbons and one middle carbon, 1-chloropropane is produced in a larger quantity because of simple probability. I think. And, since this contradicts your expected answer, I wonder if maybe the question was supposed to be about propEne. If not, then I’ll be interested to see if someone can shed more light on this.

hope it will help u

Answer 2

The equation will be:

HCl+C3H8-> C3H7Cl+H2

It is a type of substitution rxn