Question

How is acetic acid prepared from acetylene?

Answer 1

The acetic acid is a carboxylic acid, having two carbons, one is of carboxylic acid and one is of methyl group and having formula of acetic acid as $C{H_3}COOH$ . Acetylene is an alkyne having two carbons and a triple bond and having formula of acetylene as ${C_2}{H_2}$ .

Complete step by step answer:
Here, for these question, we have to convert acetylene into acetic acid:
We cannot directly change alkynes into carboxylic acid, for these we have to convert the alkyne into aldehyde first and then convert the aldehyde into the carboxylic acid by oxidation of aldehyde.
For this first of all, we have to convert the acetylene into acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde is an aldehyde having two carbons, one of the carbon as aldehyde group as functional group and another as methyl group having formula $C{H_3}CHO$ .
The acetylene is converted into acetaldehyde by reacting the acetylene with $40\% {H_2}S{O_4}$ at $60^\circ C$ in the presence of $1\% HgS{O_4}$ .
The reaction of conversion of acetylene into acetaldehyde is as follows:
${C_2}{H_2} + {H_2}O\xrightarrow[{HgS{O_4}}]{{{H_2}S{O_4}(dil.)}}C{H_3}CHO$
Now, we have to convert acetaldehyde into acetic acid.
The acetaldehyde is oxidised in the presence of catalyst manganese acetate.
The reaction of conversion of acetaldehyde into acetic acid as follows:
$C{H_3}CHO + \left[ O \right]\xrightarrow[\Delta ]{{Catalyst}}C{H_3}COOH$
So, the complete conversion of the acetylene into acetic acid as follows:
${C_2}{H_2} + {H_2}O\xrightarrow[{HgS{O_4}}]{{{H_2}S{O_4}(dil.)}}C{H_3}CHO$
$C{H_3}CHO + \left[ O \right]\xrightarrow[\Delta ]{{Catalyst}}C{H_3}COOH$
So, we can prepare the acetic acid from acetylene by the above conversions.

Note:
Acetic acid and acetylene are the common names of the $C{H_3}COOH$ and ${C_2}{H_2}$ . The IUPAC name of acetic acid is ethanoic acid and the IUPAC name of acetylene is ethyne. IUPAC naming is recommended by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.