Ethane

Ethane (/ˈɛθeɪn/ or /ˈiːθeɪn/) is an organic chemical compound with chemical formula C₂H₆. At standard temperature and pressure, ethane is a colorless, odorless gas. Like many hydrocarbons, ethane is isolated on an industrial scale from natural gas and as a petrochemical byproduct of petroleum refining. Its chief use is as feedstock for ethylene production.

A molecule of ethane with a terminal hydrogen substituted with another functional group forms other compounds; the ethane moiety is called an ethyl group. For example, an ethyl group linked to a hydroxyl group yields ethanol, the alcohol in beverages.

History

Ethane was first synthesised in 1834 by Michael Faraday, applying electrolysis of a potassium acetate solution. He mistook the hydrocarbon product of this reaction for methane, and did not investigate it further. During the period 1847–1849, in an effort to vindicate the radical theory of organic chemistry, Hermann Kolbe and Edward Frankland produced ethane by the reductions of propionitrile (ethyl cyanide) and ethyl iodide with potassium metal, and, as did Faraday, by the electrolysis of aqueous acetates. They, however, mistook the product of these reactions for methyl radical, rather than the dimer of methyl, ethane. This error was corrected in 1864 by Carl Schorlemmer, who showed that the product of all these reactions was in fact ethane.

Ethane (data page)

This page provides supplementary chemical data on ethane.

Material Safety Data Sheet

The handling of this chemical may incur notable safety precautions. It is highly recommend that you seek the Material Safety Datasheet (MSDS) for this chemical from a reliable source such as SIRI, and follow its directions.

Structure and properties

Thermodynamic properties

Vapor pressure of liquid

Table data obtained from CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics 44th ed.

Melting point data

Mean value for acceptable data: -183.01 °C (90.14 K)

Sources used, from ONS Open Melting Point Collection:

Values considered "outliers", not included in averaging:

Spectral data

References

ETHANE

ETHANE is a mnemonic indicating a protocol used by emergency services to report situations which they may be faced with, especially as it relates to major incidents, where it may be used as part of their emergency action principles. An alternative mnemonic METHANE adds an additional prompt "Major Incident Declared?" to ensure consideration is given to if the response may challenge the available resources and so necessitate initiating contingency plan measures.

(M)ETHANE dictates the form in which the receiving control station should get information from the first person or officer on scene. In the UK, the Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Principles (JESIP) set out the way the emergency services respond together to major incidents.

Definition and process

ETHANE stands for: