![]() Most of the reactions with ethylene are electrophilic addition. In the United States and Europe, approximately 90% of ethylene is used to produce ethylene oxide, ethylene dichloride, ethylbenzene and polyethylene. Major industrial reactions of ethylene include in order of scale: 1) polymerization, 2) oxidation, 3) halogenation and hydrohalogenation, 4) alkylation, 5) hydration, 6) oligomerization, and 7) hydroformylation. Its UV-vis spectrum is still used as a test of theoretical methods. īeing a simple molecule, ethylene is spectroscopically simple. ![]() Many reactions of ethylene are catalyzed by transition metals, which bind transiently to the ethylene using both the π and π* orbitals. The double bond is a region of high electron density, thus it is susceptible to attack by electrophiles. The π-bond in the ethylene molecule is responsible for its useful reactivity. ![]() The molecule is also relatively weak: rotation about the C-C bond is a very low energy process that requires breaking the π-bond by supplying heat at 50☌. The H-C-H angle is 117.4°, close to the 120° for ideal sp² hybridized carbon. All six atoms that comprise ethylene are coplanar. This hydrocarbon has four hydrogen atoms bound to a pair of carbon atoms that are connected by a double bond. ![]() ![]() Orbital description of bonding between ethylene and a transition metal. ![]()
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