Question

How to synthesise ethylene glycol from ethyl chloride?

Answer 1

Uses: Ethyl Chloride is used industrially as a refrigerant, as an intermediate in organic synthesis, as a local anesthetic in medicine and dentistry, as a solvent for for phosphorus, sulfur, fats, oils, resins, waxes and for the manufacture of tetraethyllead and ethylcellulose.Also called ETHYLENE DICHLORIDE, or 1,2-DICHLOROETHANE, a colourless, toxic, volatile liquid belonging to the family of organic halogen compounds and having an odour resembling that of chloroform. It was formerly important as a solvent and as a raw material for making ethylene glycol and polysulfide rubbers, but now it is principally used for making vinyl chloride and as a component of tetraethyllead anti-knock formulations for gasoline. Ethylene chloride is produced by the reaction of ethylene and chlorine; it is denser than water and practically insoluble in it. It is an effective solvent for fats, waxes, greases, and numerous other organic compounds, but its use as a solvent has been largely discontinued in favour of tetra-chloroethylene.Ethylene chloride is converted to vinyl chloride (an important raw material for plastics) by contact with a catalyst at about 500° C (900° F) or by reaction with dilute caustic alkali at about 150° C (300° F). The use of ethylene chloride with tetraethyllead depends upon its ability to prevent the accumulation of lead compounds within the engine by converting them into lead chloride, which is sufficiently volatile to be vaporized and carried away in the exhaust gases.

Answer 2

ethyl chloride (C2H5Cl), also calledchloroethane, colourless, flammable gas belonging to the family of organohalogen compounds. At one time, ethyl chloride was a high-volume industrial chemical used in the preparation of the gasolineadditive tetraethyl lead. Beginning with restrictions on leaded gasoline in the 1970s and continuing until the eventual ban on its use in 1997, ethyl chloride production decreased. Today, ethyl chloride has limited applications; it is used mainly in the production of other organic chemicals.

It has been used as a local anesthetic for small incisions, tooth extractions, and needle punctures by spraying it on the surface of the skin, where its rapid evaporation produces a numbing sensation.

Ethyl chloride is prepared from ethyleneby reaction with hydrogen chloride in the presence of aluminum chloride as acatalyst. Ethyl chloride boils at 12.3 °C (54.1 °F) and freezes at −138.7 °C (−217.7 °F); it dissolves freely in alcohol, ether, and other organic solvents but only slightly inwater.