Experiment 14: Petroleum Ether and Hydrocarbons

Flashcards based on lecture notes about hydrocarbons and their reactions.

Flash Point

The temperature at which an oil vaporizes sufficiently to form a mixture with air that can be ignited and continue to support combustion.

Petroleum ether or gasoline vapors

Highly volatile mixtures that ignite readily at room temperature.

Alkanes

Saturated hydrocarbons that are generally inert toward common laboratory reagents.

Unsaturated Hydrocarbons

Hydrocarbons that react by addition due to the presence of double or triple bonds.

Ligroin or benzine

A fraction that distills over before gasoline and includes hydrocarbons containing 4 to 7 carbon atoms.

Volatility

The tendency of a substance to vaporize or become gaseous.

Cracking Process

Process involving breaking down larger hydrocarbon molecules into smaller ones, forming unsaturated hydrocarbons.

Substitution Reactions

Reactions alkanes typically undergo due to their saturated C-H bonds.

Addition Reactions

Reactions alkenes typically undergo due to the pi bonds in the double bond.

Free-Radical Substitution

Reaction that occurs when petroleum ether reacts with bromine in sunlight.

Flash Point

The lowest temperature at which a liquid can form an ignitable mixture in air near the surface of the liquid.

Cracking process

Process that produces alkenes and alkynes, increasing octane rating and combustion efficiency.

Octane Rating

A measure of gasoline's resistance to knocking in an engine, influenced by unsaturated hydrocarbons.

Energy (light or heat)

Alkanes do not react readily with bromine unless this is provided.

Free-radical substitution

Reaction that occurs when a hydrogen atom in an alkane is replaced by a bromine atom.

Alkyl bromide and HBr

The products of a free-radical substitution reaction between an alkane and bromine.

Electrophilic substitution

Benzene undergoes this type of reaction

Alkenes and alkynes

These increase octane rating and combustion efficiency.

Volatile

Smaller hydrocarbon molecules (typically C5-C12) are more of this, meaning they evaporate more readily to form that flammable vapor.

Reaction condition of Higher paraffin hydrocarbons with concentrated acids as HNO3 and H2SO4.

They typically require elevated temperatures and/or a catalyst

Ignite readily at room temperature.

The vapor mixture of gasoline allows it to do this.

Saturated hydrocarbons

Inert toward the common laboratory reagents and react only by substitution.

Carbocation (CCl₃⁺)

AlCl3 is a catalyst that helps break the bond in chloroform to form a reactive .

Formation of trichloromethyl benzene (C₆H₅CCl₃)

The result of the reaction between benzene and chloroform in the presence of AlCl3

Addition Reaction

This is the type of reaction exhibited by alkenes