Ethylene

ethylene (H₂C=CH₂), the simplest of the organic compounds known as alkenes, which contain carbon-carbon double bonds. It is a colourless, flammable gas having a sweet taste and odour. Natural sources of ethylene include both natural gas and petroleum; it is also a naturally occurring hormone in plants, in which it inhibits growth and promotes leaf fall, and in fruits, in which it promotes ripening.

Ethylene is an important industrial organic chemical. It is produced by heating either natural gas, especially its ethane and propane components, or petroleum to 800–900 °C (1,470–1,650 °F), giving a mixture of gases from which the ethylene is separated. The melting point of ethylene is −169.4 °C [−272.9 °F], and its boiling point is −103.9 °C [−155.0 °F].

Ethylene use falls into two main categories: 1) as a monomer, from which longer carbon chains are constructed, and 2) as a starting material for other two-carbon compounds. The first of these is the single largest use of ethylene, consuming about one-half of the annual output. Polymerization (the repetitive joining of many small molecules into larger ones) of ethylene gives polyethylene, a polymer having many uses, particularly in the production of packaging films, wire coatings, and squeeze bottles. When polymerization is carried out at high pressures and temperatures, the product is called low-density polyethylene and has properties different from the high-density polyethylene formed by polymerization under Ziegler-Natta catalytic conditions (see industrial polymers).

Another use of ethylene as a monomer is in the formation of linear α-olefins. The oligomerization catalysts are similar to the Ziegler-Natta polymerization catalysts. Linear α-olefins have a number of applications, including the preparation of linear low-density polyethylene.

Ethylene is the starting material for the preparation of a number of two-carbon compounds including ethanol (industrial alcohol), ethylene oxide (converted to ethylene glycol for antifreeze and polyester fibres and films), acetaldehyde (converted to acetic acid), and vinyl chloride (converted to polyvinyl chloride). In addition to these compounds, ethylene and benzene combine to form ethylbenzene, which is dehydrogenated to styrene for use in the production of plastics and synthetic rubber.