Derek asked: A student wished to prepare ethylene gas by
dehydration of
ethanol at 140°C using
sulfuric acid as the
dehydrating agent. A low-boiling liquid was obtained instead of ethylene. What was the liquid, and how might the reaction conditions be changed to give ethylene? PLEASE HELP!
Kansieo.com
Tags:
Dehydrating Agent,
Dehydration,
Ethanol,
Sulfuric Acid
The competing reaction would be formation of diethyl ether, bp 37 C. Using more sulfuric acid would produce more ethylene. Ordinarily, a higher T would do that too. It is not clear how you could operate the reaction at even the 140 C you quote.