Ethane was first synthesised in 1834 by Michael Faraday, applying

electrolysis of a potassium acetate solution. He mistook the

hydrocarbon product of this reaction for methane, and did not
investigate it further.[4] During the period 18471849, in an effort to
vindicate the radical theory of organic chemistry, Hermann Kolbe
and Edward Frankland produced ethane by the reductions of
propionitrile (ethyl cyanide)[5] and ethyl iodide[6] with potassium
metal, and, as did Faraday, by the electrolysis of aqueous
acetates. They, however, mistook the product of these reactions
for methyl radical, rather than the dimer of methyl, ethane. This
error was corrected in 1864 by Carl Schorlemmer, who showed
that the product of all these reactions was in fact ethane.[7]
The name ethane is derived from the IUPAC nomenclature of
organic chemistry. "Eth-" refers to the presence of 2 carbon atoms,
and "-ane" refers to the presence of a single bond between them.
Chemistry[edit]
In the laboratory, ethane may be conveniently prepared by Kolbe
electrolysis. In this technique, an aqueous solution of an acetate
salt is electrolysed. At the anode, acetate is oxidized to produce
carbon dioxide and methyl radicals, and the highly reactive methyl
radicals combine to produce ethane:
CH
3
COO

CH
3
+ CO
2
+ e

CH
3
+ CH
3
C
2
H
6

Another method, the oxidation of acetic anhydride by peroxides, is
conceptually similar.
The chemistry of ethane also involves chiefly free radical
reactions. Ethane can react with the halogens, especially chlorine
and bromine, by free radical halogenation. This reaction proceeds
through the propagation of the ethyl radical:
C
2
H
5
+ Cl
2
C
2
H
5
Cl + Cl
Cl + C
2
H
6
C
2
H
5
+ HCl
Because halogenated ethanes can undergo further free radical
halogenation, this process results in a mixture of several
halogenated products. In the chemical industry, more selective
chemical reactions are used for the production of any particular
two-carbon haloalkane.
FROM WIKIPEDIA