Carbon

Periodic position:
C6  1s2, 2s22p2
Group  IV A (14)
Period  2nd

Allotrops of Carbon

Diamond Graphite Fullerene Coke Charcoal Animal Lamp Gas

Charcoal Black Carbon

Fullerene: It produces lattice where fullerene is found as descrete molecules. This fullerene
contains five or six membered carbon ring attached to each other to produce soccer ball like
structure. Here each carbon is attached to other carbon by covalent bond. Thus, are soluble in
organic solvents. Eg: C60
It easily react with alkali metals to produce K3C60 which acts as super conductor below
18 k temp.

Amorphous Allotropes:
i) Cake : When coal is allowed to distructive distillation it gives greyish black coke.
It’s used as reducing agent mainly in metallurgy.
ii) Charcoal: The charcoal are of various type like wood charcoal, sugar charcoal etc.
Wood charcoal is produced by burning of wood in limit supply of air. It
gives porous and high surface area having charcoal.
Sugar charcoal is produced by treating sugar with conc H2SO4.
iii) Animal chargo coal: When bone is distructive distilled it gives bone charcoal
having 10% carbon and other as calcium phosphate. It is used to
decolourise organic matters like sugar during crystallization.
iv) Lamp Black: When Kerosen, Diesel, terpine oil are burnt in limit supply of air and
wet planket is taken to cover then black carbon attaches to it. Which can
be separated on drying blanket called lamp black. It is used to produce
ink, shoe polish, color etc.
v) Gas carbon : It is produced by burning natural gas petroleum gas in limit supply
of air. It is also produced ink, shoe polish. It contains more amount of
carbon and is good conductor of electricity . So it is used as electrode in
battery.
The same amount of all allotropes gives some amount of carbondioxide
on burning in air indicating all are allotropes of carbon.
 Carbon Monoxide (CO)
a) From coke : When coke is burnt in air at high temperature it firstly give CO 2 which
again reduces with coke on high temperature to give CO.

C + O2 
→ CO2

CO2 + C 
→ 2CO

b) Reduction of metallic oxide: When metallic oxides are heated with coke it
reduces metallic oxide to produce CO.
Fe2O3 + 3C →  2e + 3 CO 

ZnO + C 
→ Zn + CO 


c) From water gas (CO + H2) : When steam is passed over red hot wax at 1000 0C
temperature. It gives mixture of CO + H2 called water gas and CO is obtained from
water gas.

C + H 2O → CO + H2
10000C
(water gas)

d) Lap preparation of CO : When oxalic acid crystal is heated with conc. H 2SO4 it
gives CO and CO2 . This gas is passed firstly through NaOH solution which absorbs
CO2 gas. And CO is collected by downward displacement of water.

COOH + H2SO4 (conc) 

→ CO + CO2 + H2O
|
COOH
2NaOH + CO2 → Na2CO3 + H2O
 If lab if little CO is required then in place of oxalic acid, formic acid can be
used to get CO as :
HCOOH + H2SO4 → CO + H2O

Properties:
i) It is colorless, odorless and poisonous gas.
ii) It is slightly soluble in water and little lighter than air.

Chemical properties:
i) Oxidation: Its oxidation in air give CO2 evolving heat.
2CO + O2 → 2CO2 + heat

ii) When mixture of Co and H2 is passed over catalyst (Zn+Cr2O3) at

3000C and 2500 atm pressure it gives CH3OH.

Catalyst
CO + 2H2 →
3000C/250atm
CH3OH

iii) When CO is passed over NaOH solution at 1600C and 200 atm
pressure, it gives sodium formate.

1600C/200atm
CO + NaOH → HCOONa

iv) When CO is passed over metals like nickel at 800C nickel tetra
carbonyle is produced which on heating to 1800C again
disassociated to give Ni and CO.

800C
Ni + 4CO → Ni (CO)4


800C
Ni(CO)4 → Ni + 4CO


This reaction is used in purification of nickel.

v) Reaction with Cl2 : When CO is passed through Cl2 gas in presence of
sunlight phosgene (poisonous gas):
 h
CO + Cl2 → COCl2

vi) When CO is passed over heated metallic oxide reduction happens

to give metal:
Fe2O3 + CO → 2Fe + 3CO2
PbO + CO → Pb + CO2 

vii) Poisonous nature of CO: It gives stable compound with

haemoglobin i.e. carboxyhaemoglobin (HbCO) and which does not
disassociated to produce haemoglobin. Thus haemoglobin losses
capacity of carrying O2 and finally haemoglobin decreases in blood
to fell suffocation and finally to death.
Hb + O2 → HbO
Oxyhaemoglobin
HbO2 → Hb + O2
Hb + CO → HbCO
(Carboxy haemoglobin)
(stable compound)

Uses :
i) Used as a reducing agent in metallurgy.
ii) Used to produce poisonous phosgene gas.
iii) Used on purification of Fe, Ni etc.
iv) Used in production of methyl alcohol. (CH3OH)

viii)