addition reactions of alkenes

• Alkenes are unsaturated hydrocarbons containing at least one carbon-carbon double bond as their functional group
• The double bond in alkenes allows them to undergo addition reactions by opening up and bonding to atoms of another molecule
• Three types of addition reactions covered in the video are:

  • Addition of hydrogen
  • Addition of water
  • Addition of halogens
• Addition of hydrogen to an alkene, like propine, with a catalyst breaks the double bond and forms propane, converting it from an alkene to an alkane
• Addition of water to an alkene, like ethene, with a catalyst at high temperatures forms ethanol, a type of alcohol, through the OH group bonding to the carbon atoms
• Separating ethanol from unreacted ethene and water is done through fractional distillation, where ethanol evaporates first due to its lower boiling point
• Reaction of alkenes with halogens, like bromine, does not require a catalyst and forms dibromoethane, decolorizing the orange bromine solution
• Alkenes can decolorize bromine water from orange to colorless, distinguishing them from alkanes which cannot react with bromine