Question

What is hydrogenation? What is its industrial application?

Answer 1

In the process of hydrogenation, the hydrogen is added, so the compound is reduced. We can know about this process from the name itself. The process is carried out at attainable temperatures using a catalyst. You can use this to answer this question.

Complete Solution :
To answer this, firstly let’s discuss what hydrogenation is and then we can discuss its uses.
Hydrogenation is the process of the addition of hydrogen to an unsaturated organic compound (compounds containing double or triple bonds) to convert it into a saturated compound (a compound containing only single bonds). This process requires a catalyst as non-catalyzed hydrogenation occurs only at very high temperatures.

Let us take an example to understand it better-
- The addition of hydrogen to ethene in the presence of a nickel catalyst is hydrogenation.
- The following reaction shows hydrogenation reduction reaction in alkene:
$C{{H}_{2}}=C{{H}_{2}}\xrightarrow{{{H}_{2}}/Ni}C{{H}_{3}}-C{{H}_{3}}$

Now, we will discuss its applications.
- Industrial application of hydrogenation:

1. Hydrogenation of vegetable oils
   Vegetable oils utilized for cooking are long unsaturated hydrocarbons that are healthy while animal fats, for example, vanaspati are saturated hydrocarbons and unhealthy for utilization. It can solidify and block the arteries of the heart.
2. In the petrochemical industry: Hydrogenation reaction is used in the petrochemical industry to convert alkenes to alkanes (paraffin) and cycloalkanes.

Additional Information:
- The reduction can be defined as the process of removal of oxygen or the addition of hydrogen to a chemical substance. At a point, when a substance loses oxygen or the addition of hydrogen occurs during a reaction, then it is reduced.
- The substances that are oxidized (remove oxygen or provide hydrogen) are called reducing agents.

Note: The possibility of making a mistake is that you may confuse between hydrogenation and hydration. Hydrogenation is the addition of hydrogen while hydration is the addition of water molecules.