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    Tetrahedral C-H Bonds

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    Stefania Ardeleanu
    Methane is the main component of natural gas and has the chemical formula CH4. It is a colorless, odorless gas that is lighter than air. Methane's main reactions are combustion and halogenation. Combustion of methane produces carbon dioxide and water. Halogenation involves a radical chain reaction where a halogen atom abstracts a hydrogen from methane, forming a halide and methyl radical that then reacts with additional halogen. Methane is used in industrial processes and transported as liquefied natural gas, with pipelines distributing large amounts of natural gas that is mostly methane.

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    Tetrahedral C-H Bonds

    Uploaded by

    Stefania Ardeleanu
    30 views2 pages
    Methane is the main component of natural gas and has the chemical formula CH4. It is a colorless, odorless gas that is lighter than air. Methane's main reactions are combustion and halogenation. Combustion of methane produces carbon dioxide and water. Halogenation involves a radical chain reaction where a halogen atom abstracts a hydrogen from methane, forming a halide and methyl radical that then reacts with additional halogen. Methane is used in industrial processes and transported as liquefied natural gas, with pipelines distributing large amounts of natural gas that is mostly methane.

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    METHANE-ex. II

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    Methane is the main component of natural gas and has the chemical formula CH4. It is a colorless, odorless gas that is lighter than air. Methane's main reactions are combustion and halogenation. Combustion of methane produces carbon dioxide and water. Halogenation involves a radical chain reaction where a halogen atom abstracts a hydrogen from methane, forming a halide and methyl radical that then reacts with additional halogen. Methane is used in industrial processes and transported as liquefied natural gas, with pipelines distributing large amounts of natural gas that is mostly methane.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    30 views2 pages

    Tetrahedral C-H Bonds

    Uploaded by

    Stefania Ardeleanu
    Methane is the main component of natural gas and has the chemical formula CH4. It is a colorless, odorless gas that is lighter than air. Methane's main reactions are combustion and halogenation. Combustion of methane produces carbon dioxide and water. Halogenation involves a radical chain reaction where a halogen atom abstracts a hydrogen from methane, forming a halide and methyl radical that then reacts with additional halogen. Methane is used in industrial processes and transported as liquefied natural gas, with pipelines distributing large amounts of natural gas that is mostly methane.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    METHANE

    Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula CH4. It is a group-14 hydride and the

    simplest alkane, and is the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on

    Earth makes it an attractive fuel, although capturing and storing it poses challenges due to its

    gaseous state under normal conditions for temperature and pressure.

    Methane is a tetrahedral molecule with four equivalent C–H bonds. Its electronic structure is

    described by four bonding molecular orbitals (MOs) resulting from the overlap of the valence

    orbitals on C and H. The lowest energy MO is the result of the overlap of the 2s orbital on carbon

    with the in-phase combination of the 1s orbitals on the four hydrogen atoms. Above this energy

    level is a triply degenerate set of MOs that involve overlap of the 2p orbitals on carbon with various

    linear combinations of the 1s orbitals on hydrogen. The resulting "three-over-one" bonding scheme

    is consistent with photoelectron spectroscopic measurements. Under normal conditions of

    temperature and pressure, methane is a colorless, odorless gas, lighter than air. The unpleasant and

    easily recognizable odor of natural gas used in homes is due to odorant additives, such as tert-

    butylthiol, which are used for safety. The methane has a boiling point of -161 ° C at a pressure of

    one atmosphere. Methane is slightly soluble in water (below 1%), but soluble in alcohol and ether.

    It burns with almost light flame, with high heat release (8560 kcal / m3). The mixture of methane

    and oxygen (or methane and air) explodes in the presence of sparks. This explains why explosive

    care occurs in coal mines.

    The primary chemical reactions of methane are combustion and halogenation. In general, methane
    reactions are difficult to control.
    1. Combustion
    Methane's heat of combustions is 55.5 MJ/kg. Combustion of methane is a multiple step reaction
    summarized as follows:

    CH4 + 2 O2 → CO2 + 2 H2O (ΔH = −891 kJ/mol, at standard conditions)

    2. Methane radical reactions


    Given appropriate conditions, methane reacts with halogen radicals as follows:
    X• + CH4 → HX + CH3•
    CH3• + X2 → CH3X + X•
    where X is a halogen: fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), or iodine (I). This mechanism for this
    process is called free radical halogenation. It is initiated when UV light or some other radica
    initiator (like peroxides) produces a halogen atom. A two-step chain reaction ensues in which the
    halogen atom abstracts a hydrogen atom from a methane molecule, resulting in the formation of
    a hydrogen halide molecule and a methyl radical (CH3•). The methyl radical then reacts with a
    molecule of the halogen to form a molecule of the halomethane, with a new halogen atom as
    byproduct.Similar reactions can occur on the halogenated product, leading to replacement of
    additional hydrogen atoms by halogen atoms with dihalomethane, trihalomethane, and
    ultimately, tetrahalomethane structures, depending upon reaction conditions and the halogen-to-
    methane ratio.
    Uses: Methane is used in industrial chemical processes and may be transported as a refrigerated
    liquid (liquefied natural gas, or LNG). While leaks from a refrigerated liquid container are initially
    heavier than air due to the increased density of the cold gas, the gas at ambient temperature is
    lighter than air. Gas pipelines distribute large amounts of natural gas, of which methane is the
    principal component.

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