Question

: How would you convert ethanol to ethene?

Answer 1

Ethanol can be converted to ethene by dehydration of ethanol. In dehydration an ethanol is heating at high temperature in the presence of concentrated sulphuric acid. The phosphoric acid can also be used instead of sulphuric acid.

Complete answer:
Ethanol is an organic compound with the formula ${C_2}{H_5}OH$ .It has a higher boiling point than ethane or another hydrocarbon such as alkane, alkyne with the same number of carbon atoms. Ethanol can directly convert to ethene by heating the ethanol in the presence of concentrated sulphuric acid. Ethanol removed water molecules from it. This process is called dehydration. The reaction of dehydration is,
${C_2}{H_5}OH\to C{H_2}C{H_2} + {H_2}O$
Mechanism of the reaction is, the mechanism of the acid dehydration has three steps. First step is the protonation of the oxygen atom of the $- OH$ group. Second step is the removal of water molecules to form carbonium anion and the last step is the deprotonation to form carbon carbon double bonds.

Note:
Ethanol is an organic molecule which contains $- OH$ functional. So, it is a class of alcohol. The molar mass of ethanol is $46.07g/mol$ . The melting and boiling point of ethanol is ${78.37^ \circ }C$ and $- {114.1^ \circ }C$ .It is used as Antiseptic, Addition in petrol, Medicine, Solvent and alcoholic drink.
Ethene: Ethene is an organic compound which consists of two carbon carbon double bonds. The formula of ethene is $C{H_2}C{H_2}$ .It molar mass is $28.05g/mol$ .The boiling point and melting point of ethene is $- {103.7^ \circ }C$ and $- {169.2^ \circ }C$ .
The following condition is required for acid dehydration is high temperature and the presence of concentrated sulphuric acid. The sulphuric acid is not mentioned in the reaction as it acts as catalyst. Role of the catalyst provides the surface area and increases the rate of reaction.