1. Module 6

1.13. Page 6

Module 6 Lesson 2

Module 6—Petrochemicals

Lesson Summary


It might surprise you to know that one of the foundations of Alberta’s petrochemical industry was chlorine. One of the main reasons that Dow Chemical chose to establish a petrochemical facility in Fort Saskatchewan was the location’s proximity to the underground mineral deposits containing NaCl. The chlorine produced at the Fort Saskatchewan facility was used by another plant at the same facility to produce the organic halides ethylene dichloride, vinyl chloride, and polyvinyl chloride.

 

In Module 3 you completed an electrolysis of aqueous sodium chloride, which produced chlorine gas as a product. You may wish to revisit the Module 3 investigation and “The Chlor-Alkali Process” on page 648 in the textbook.

 

In Lesson 2 you considered the following questions:

  • What are organic halides?

  • In what reactions are organic halides involved?

Organic halides are an important class of organic compound and are used in a variety of important technological applications. It will not surprise you that, because of this importance, large quantities of these substances have been produced in petrochemical plants in Alberta and in other parts of the world. Addition and substitution reactions are the two reaction types currently used to produce organic halides.

 

Organic halides are also at the centre of some controversy. Plans to rethink how chemicals are made and used may help address concerns.

 

Lesson Glossary

 

addition reaction: a type of organic reaction involving an unsaturated hydrocarbon and a small molecule, usually hydrogen or a halogen, that increases the saturation of the hydrocarbon

 

chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs): a group of organic compounds composed of carbon, hydrogen, chlorine, and fluorine

 

functional group: a characteristic arrangement of atoms or bonds within a molecule that determines the most important chemical and physical properties of a class of compounds

 

hydrocarbon derivative: a molecular compound of carbon, at least one other element, and, usually, hydrogen

 

organic halide: an organic compound in which one or more of the hydrogen atoms has been replaced by halogen atoms

 

substitution reaction: a type of organic reaction involving breaking a carbon-hydrogen bond and replacing the hydrogen atom with another atom or group of atoms