Ethylene

Lore & Background

In Europe and Asia, it is obtained mainly from cracking naphtha, gasoil, and condensates. Other production methods include Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and methanol-to-olefins (MTO). Ethylene is also produced from methionine in nature, with the immediate precursor being 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid.

Reader's Guide

Its primary use is in polymerization to create polyethylene, the world's most widely used plastic, which consumes more than half of the world's ethylene supply. In the United States and Europe, approximately 90% of ethylene is used to produce ethylene oxide, ethylene dichloride, ethylbenzene, and polyethylene. Major industrial reactions include polymerization, oxidation, halogenation, alkylation, hydration, oligomerization, and hydroformylation. Ethylene is also a natural plant hormone that affects ripening and flowering, widely used to control freshness in horticulture. The scrubbing of naturally occurring ethylene delays ripening. Ethylene is a fundamental ligand in transition metal alkene complexes, with Zeise's salt being one of the first organometallic compounds. Production emits greenhouse gases, including significant amounts of carbon dioxide.

Did You Know?

• Ethylene is the simplest alkene, with a carbon–carbon double bond.
• The hydrate of ethylene is ethanol.
• Ethylene was historically called olefiant gas, meaning 'oil-making gas', because it could be combined with chlorine to produce 1,2-dichloroethane (Dutch oil).
• Some geologists and scholars think the famous Greek Oracle of Delphi went into her trance-like state as an effect of ethylene rising from ground faults.