Carbon dioxide nonpolar nature

At ambient temperature, carbon dioxide is three to five times more soluble in most organic solvents than in water (Table I). The differences among polar (e.g. methanol, = 0.139) and nonpolar (e.g. carbon tetrachloride, % = 0- 094) solvents are small. Two solvents which have recently been of practical interest in removing carbon dioxide from natural gas are propylene carbonate ( ) and monoethanolamine (10) - this last ought to be classified as an acid-base reaction. Judging from the number of entries in the 10th collective index to Chemical Abstracts, there is a substantial chemical engineering literature on this topic. 

For several years, research conducted at California State University Fresno has focused on the utilization of carbon monoxide as an alternative to sulfur dioxide and other preservatives and sterilants as well (Muller et al., 1996). Carbon monoxide shares several of its chemical attributes with sulfur dioxide. Carbon monoxide has an electron deficiency on the carbon atom similar to the electron deficiency on sulfur in SOg. Additionally, the carbon has a pair of electrons available which can attack any Lewis acid and/or electrophile. Thus, CO can act very much like SOg and, in addition, has the properties of a strong electrophile. Further, once a covalent bond has been formed between carbon monoxide and one of its target molecules, it is usually a carbon-carbon bond which by its nature is nonpolar and thus difficult to hydrolyze. By comparison, carbon-sulfur bonds are polar and thus easily hydrolyzable. Compared with SO2, no carbon monoxide can be freed by hydrolysis (in either strong acid or base) from its... 

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