53
votes
Accepted
Why isn't ethane used for cooking?
Probably the biggest drivers behind using methane as a fuel is that it is abundant in natural gas and is (currently) mostly useless as a chemical feedstock.
Ethane makes up a few percent of natural ...
- 12.9k
39
votes
Why isn't ethane used for cooking?
In both cases, there appears to be a confusion of terminology between common and technical uses.
We commonly use methane and propane for cooking (and home heating), but not ethane. I would expect ...
- 17.3k
36
votes
Five-pointed crown alkane C25H40: does it exist?
These polyspiro compounds such as the one you gave are known as [m,n]rotanes, where m is the size of the central ring and n is the size of the decorating rings. So, your compound would be called [5,5]-...
- 71.1k
24
votes
Accepted
Cyclobutadiene - Jahn–Teller effect or not?
Very interesting question, and it kept me up despite daylight saving time cheating me of one hour of sleep last night... A good reference is Albright, Burdett and Whangbo, Orbital Interactions in ...
- 71.1k
23
votes
How can a molecule with a double bond on one side have a plane of symmetry, and thus, be achiral?
I think this is a case of picture being worth a thousand words. Arguably the easiest way to visualize the plane of symmetry for nonbornene (mirror plane m) is to redraw the molecule in 2D:
...
- 37.4k
22
votes
Accepted
Why doesn't liquid propane in a closed coke bottle burst?
Yes, based on what we can see in the video, your guess appears to be correct: as the propane-filled bottle warmed up, just enough propane evaporated to keep the pressure inside the bottle equal to the ...
- 2,158
21
votes
When I burn isopropyl alcohol (IPA), it burns orange. But when I burn ethyl alcohol, it burns totally blue. Why is this?
IPA has a different carbon:hydrogen ratio than ethanol. There is more incomplete combustion occurring with IPA, hence the smoky orange flame and smell of soot. Ethanol combusts more completely, ...
- 487
18
votes
What single, pure compound would best replace petrol?
Higher $\mathrm{RON}$ seems possible. Yet the boiling point rises accordingly while heat of combustion remains roughly the same. Here are two compounds that fit all posed criteria.
\begin{array}{|c|c|...
- 7,021
18
votes
Accepted
ICHO Synthesis Problem 2018
You have asked quite a number of questions in your post so let's tackle it one by one.
Why does the oxidation take place at that particular nitrogen atom?
To understand this, we first need to ...
- 10.2k
18
votes
Accepted
When I burn isopropyl alcohol (IPA), it burns orange. But when I burn ethyl alcohol, it burns totally blue. Why is this?
Interesting observation. The blue flame color of all hydrocarbon fuels is due to the emission small diatomic carbon species such $C_2$ or CH. There is nothing magical about IPA having a yellow flame. ...
- 38.9k
17
votes
Accepted
Does the largest known cycloalkane contain 288 carbon atoms?
According to Makromol. Chem., Rapid Commun. 1985, 6 (3), 203–208[1], Kwang Sup Lee and Gerhard Wegner, attempting the synthesis and study of $n>100$, $\ce{C_nH_{2n}}$ cyclo-alkanes and linear ...
- 6,905
16
votes
Accepted
What is the mechanism of alkane combustion?
The following, very general radical reactions apply to any common combustion reaction of organic material. Details vary largely.
Step 1
An energy spark of whatever kind turns triplet oxygen into its ...
- 12k
15
votes
Is pyrene aromatic despite failing Hückel's rule?
While the previous answers are correct in indicating that pyrene has aromaticity, they are often correct for the wrong reason. The proper way to break down the aromaticity in pyrene is to make the ...
- 820
14
votes
Accepted
400–430 degrees Celsius heated bath
If it doesn't specifically need to be a hydrocarbon, zinc metal melts at 419.5 °C. Could you do an "ice bath" of zinc chunks in molten zinc, maintaining the melt right at its melting point?
- 1,572
14
votes
Does motor oil get more viscous when heated & what is the meaning of the SAE motor oil code?
The numbers in the code have nothing to do with viscosity index. However, your understanding of 'W' for winter is correct. The real code for your car is actually SAE 5W-30 where SAE stands for the ...
- 39.5k
13
votes
Can a organic compounds such as hydrocarbons contain an ionic bond?
"Ionic bond" does not necessarily mean the same thing as "bond that is not covalent". For example, I would have a difficult time classifying a hydrogen bond as being either ionic or covalent in nature....
- 71.1k
13
votes
Accepted
Is this molecule possible? And if so, what is it called? (Cyclic groups)
If you want to consider the diene as the main chain, you could call this 2-cyclohexyl-1,3-butadiene. This used to be the proper name for the compound, as double bonds used to take priority over any ...
- 2,338
13
votes
Accepted
Rearrangement with sodium iodide (ring opening)
I think the final product will also contain some Bromine atoms attached to it. and the no. of double bonds will be one less than that of the compound given in the picture. I may be wrong but with all ...
- 5,593
12
votes
Accepted
Is there a reaction to get hydrogen from hydrocarbons?
Hydrocarbons are in fact the main source of hydrogen gas. According to Wikipedia, 95% of all hydrogen is produced by the steam reforming reaction:
$$\ce{CH4(g) + H2O(g) -> 3H2(g) + CO(g)}$$
This ...
- 28.3k
12
votes
Five-pointed crown alkane C25H40: does it exist?
Fascinating molecule. I am not offering anything substantially, new or original here; merely here to confirm what has already been said. I couldn't find any evidence that suggests this particular ...
- 8,465
12
votes
Accepted
Why is cyclopropane more acidic than propane
Indeed, according to the Evans $\mathrm{p}K_\mathrm{a}$ table the cyclopropane $\ce{C-H}$ bond $(\mathrm{p}K_\mathrm{a} \approx 46)$ is more acidic than the $\ce{C-H}$ bond on the central carbon in ...
- 84.2k
12
votes
Why doesn't liquid propane in a closed coke bottle burst?
The person in the video said it was about $\pu{45^oF}$. At this temperature propane has a vapor pressure of about 8 atm, so that is the pressure that built up inside the Coke bottle. Once this ...
- 17.4k
11
votes
Accepted
Why do unsaturated hydrocarbons burn with a sooty flame while saturated hydrocarbons burn with a clear flame when burnt in the air?
Your observation that unsaturated hydrocarbons burn with a sooty flame is not always true and depends on the circumstances. There are more factors at play than the nature of the hydrocarbon that is ...
- 35.4k
11
votes
Accepted
Can't we reduce climate change by converting CO2 & CH4?
There are a few problems with what you're proposing:
The reaction requires energy.
Where do get the methane from?
What will you do with the carbon you're generating?
The energy problem can be solved ...
- 299
11
votes
Accepted
Why is the name 'propylene oxide' preferred for epoxypropane?
why is 'propylene oxide' the preferred name for epoxypropane?
Propylene oxide is not the "preferred" IUPAC name (PIN): Wikipedia lists the PIN as 2-methyloxirane, which is in line with the 2013 IUPAC ...
- 71.1k
11
votes
Accepted
What is the 3D shape of an ethane molecule?
You need to know the terms "staggered" and "eclipsed", because that's what we call these two conformations. Now to the point: the real ethane molecule rotates and changes shape all ...
- 31k
11
votes
Does Phenylacetylene undergo side chain oxidation with hot alkaline Potassium permanganate?
According to this source Chemistry Libre Texts
Alkynes, similar to alkenes, can be oxidized gently or strongly depending on the reaction environment. Since alkynes are less stable than alkenes, the ...
- 21.6k
10
votes
Accepted
Why does benzyne dimerise and not trimerise?
As per Wikipedia,
Biphenylene is quite stable both chemically and thermally, and behaves in many ways like a traditional polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. However, both the spectral and chemical ...
- 1,657
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible