Use of alkenes in industry

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Alkenes are chemical substances of a hydrocarbon nature that have one double bond in their structure. These include ethylene, propylene, butylene, isobutylene, pentene, hexene, heptene and others. The use of alkenes is typical for many areas of industry, as well as for the national economy.

Due to the high reactivity of double bond compounds, they are widely used as raw materials for the chemical industry. Consider the use of alkenes using the example of ethylene. Ethylene, which is at the beginning of the homologous series of alkenes, is used to produce ethylene glycol, which, in turn, is used to produce synthetic lavsan fiber, antifreeze, and explosives. An important place in the application is played by the polymerization of ethylene. It takes place at high temperature and pressure. Polymerizing, ethylene forms polyethylene, which is used as a basis for the production of plastics, synthetic rubbers and fuels. Polyethylene with short macromolecules is a liquid lubricant. If numberlinks in a polyethylene molecule is 1.5-3 thousand, then it can be used to make bags, film, bottles, plastic utensils. With an increase in the chain length to five to six thousand, polyethylene becomes a solid, durable material from which pipes and fittings are made.

From other alkenes, synthetic fibers are also obtained by polymerization. Polypropylene obtained from propene has high strength properties.

When ethylene reacts with hydrogen chloride, ethyl chloride is formed, which is used in medicine for local anesthesia. The use of alkenes is also associated with their ability to react with water, forming alcohols. So, from ethylene in the process of hydration reaction, ethyl alcohol is obtained. They have found their application as a raw material for the production of organic compounds, varnishes, plastics, cosmetics and alkene oxides, which are formed from compounds with a double bond in the process of their oxidation with atmospheric oxygen. As a result of the addition reaction, haloalkanes are obtained from alkenes and halogens. Thus, dichloroethane is obtained from ethylene, which is used as a solvent for dissolving paints and varnishes, as a disinfectant for granaries, soil, grain, and also as an adhesive for joining plastics.

Ethylene is also a raw material for the production of acetic acid, ethylbenzene, styrene and many other industrially important chemical compounds. Its chemical properties determine the areaits use as the basis for obtaining all these substances. The high reactivity is due to the presence of a double bond. Addition reactions in alkenes occur at the double bond. As a result, the π-bond is split and two σ-bonds are formed in its place.

The use of alkenes is not limited to their use as a raw material for obtaining a huge number of compounds. For example, ethylene is used in vegetable stores and greenhouses to accelerate the ripening of fruits and vegetables, and also as a plant growth regulator.