How is Ethene Prepared from Ethanol?

Ethene can be prepared from ethanol by one step. You can use dehydrators such as concentrated sulfuric acid for preparation of ethene by ethanol. This is the reaction of preparing an alkene from alcohol compound.

Ethene and Ethanol - Chemical Formulars

Ethene is an alkene compound and ethanol is an alcohol. Both ethene and ethanol has two carbon atoms in their carbon chain. When ethene is prepared from ethanol, a water molecule should be removed.

Ethene - C₂H₄
Ethanol - CH₃CH₂OH

Dehydrators used in ethanol to ethene

Following dehydrators can be used to prepare alkenes from alcohols. Sometimes we need to heat the mixture to occur the reaction.

Heated concentrated sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) with heating
Heated alumina (Al₂O₃) with heating
Heated phosphorus pentoxide (P₂O₅)
Heated concentrated phosphoric acid (H₃PO₄)

Required temperatures for ethanol to ethane reaction

Heated concentrated sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) - 170⁰C
Heated alumina (Al₂O₃) - 350⁰C

Ethanol to ethene

Ethanol is a liquid in room temperture. But ethene is a gas. Therfore you can see a phase change, liquid to gas.

As ethanol to ethene, other alcohols also can be converted to alkene compounds by using above dehydrators.

Preparation of ethene from ethanol without dehydrators?

So, we have to convert ethanol to different organic compounds and has to try other reagents to do this. There are several methods to that. But those methods will take two steps or more to sucess.

Ethanol to ethyl bromide and ethene

Ethanol reacts with PBr₃ to give ethyl bromide.
Then ethyl bromide is heated with alcoholic KOH to prepare ethene.

Preparation of ethene - more reactions

Ethyne reacts with H₂ in the presence of quionline to control hydrogenation to give ethene.

Alkyl halides are treated with alcoholic strong bases such as KOH, NaOH to give alkenes. Therefore, heating bromoethane or chloroethane with alcoholic KOH will give ethene.

Ethene and other alkenes preparations