Pentane, properties

Physical Properties. Benzene, C H, toluene, C Hj-CH, and petrol (a mixture of aliphatic hydrocarbons, e.g., pentane, hexane, etc.) are colourless liquids, insoluble in and lighter than water. Benzene and toluene, which have similar odours, are not readily distinguishable chemically, and their physical constants should therefore be carefully noted benzene, m.p. 5 (solidifies when a few ml. in a dry test-tube are chilled in ice-water), b.p. 8i toluene, m.p. —93°, b.p. 110°. Petroleum has a characteristic odour. 

Each isomer has its individual set of physical and chemical properties however, these properties are similar (Table 6). The fundamental chemical reactions for pentanes are sulfonation to form sulfonic acids, chlorination to form chlorides, nitration to form nitropentanes, oxidation to form various compounds, and cracking to form free radicals. Many of these reactions are used to produce intermediates for the manufacture of industrial chemicals. Generally the reactivity increases from a primary to a secondary to a tertiary hydrogen (37). Other properties available but not Hsted are given in equations for heat capacity and viscosity (34), and saturated Hquid density (36). 

Pentanes are only slightly toxic. Because of their high volatihties and, consequently, their low flash points, they are highly flammable. Pentanes are classified as nonreactive, ie, they do not react with fire-fighting agents. The fire ha2ard properties for pentanes are Hsted in Table 8 (38). 

Isoprene [78-79-5] (2-methyl-1,3-butadiene) is a colorless, volatile Hquid that is soluble in most hydrocarbons but is practically insoluble in water. Isoprene forms binary azeotropes with water, methanol, methylamine, acetonitrile, methyl formate, bromoethane, ethyl alcohol, methyl sulfide, acetone, propylene oxide, ethyl formate, isopropyl nitrate, methyla1 (dimethoxymethane), ethyl ether, and / -pentane. Ternary azeotropes form with water—acetone, water—acetonitrile, and methyl formate—ethyl bromide (8). Typical properties of isoprene are Hsted in Table 1. 

PS Foams. The eady history of foamed PS is available (244), as are discussions of the theory of plastic foams (245). Foamable PS beads were developed in the 1950s by BASF under the trademark of STYROPOR (246—248). These beads, made by suspension polymerization in the presence of blowing agents such as pentane or hexane, or by post-pressurization with the same blowing agents, have had an almost explosive growth, with 200,000 metric tons used in 1980. Some typical physical properties of PS foams are Hsted in Table 10 (see Foamed plastics). 

Methane is the main constituent, with a boiling point of 119 K (—245°F). Ethane, with a boiling point of 184 K (—128°F) may be present in amounts up to 10 percent propane, with a boiling point of 231 K (—44°F), up to 3 percent. Butane, pentane, hexane, heptane, and octane may also be present. Physical properties of these hydrocarbons are given in Sec. 2. 

With the five-carbon alkane, pentane, there are three ways to draw the structural formula of this compound with five carbon atoms and twelve hydrogen atoms. The isomers of normal pentane are isopentane and neopentane. The structural formulas of these compounds are illustrated in Table 2, while typical properties are given in Table 1. 

The first step in a gas processing plant is to separate the components that are to be recovered from the gas into an NGL stream. It may then be desirable to fractionate the NGL stream into various liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) components of ethane, propane, iso-butane, or normal-butane. The LPG products are defined by their vapor pressure and must meet certain criteria as shown in Table 9-1. The unfractionated natural gas liquids product (NGL) is defined by the properties in Table 9-2. NGL is made up principally of pentanes and heavier hydrocarbons although it may contain some butanes and very small amounts of propane. It cannot contain heavy components that boil at more than 375°F. 

Organolithium compounds are sometimes prepared in hydrocarbon solvents such as pentane and hexane, but nonnally diethyl ether is used. It is especially important that the solvent be anhydrous. Even trace amounts of water or alcohols react with lithium to form insoluble lithium hydroxide or lithium alkoxides that coat the surface of the metal and prevent it from reacting with the alkyl halide. Furthennore, organolithium reagents are strong bases and react rapidly with even weak proton sources to fonn hydrocarbons. We shall discuss this property of organolithium reagents in Section 14.5. 

Formation of mixtures of products in these reactions can be attributed largely to the properties of the acetate group. The reactions of a number of cycloalkenes with thallium(III) salts have been investigated in some detail and the results obtained have served both to elucidate the stereochemistry of oxythallation and to underline the important role assumed by the anion of the metal salt in these oxidations. The most unambiguous evidence as to the stereochemistry of oxythallation comes from studies by Winstein on the oxythallation of norbornene (VII) and norbornadiene (VIII) with thal-lium(III) acetate in chloroform, in which the adducts (IX) and (X) could be precipitated from the reaction mixture by addition of pentane 128) (Scheme 11). Both by chemical means and by analogy with the oxymercuration... 

The conditions at which the separations are performed depend on the properties of the materials. Let us suppose we wish to separate n butane from n pentane. Table 4-3 gives the boiling points of these compounds. When possible the pressure in a distillation column is usually kept close to atmospheric. Since all multistage distillation columns require reflux, which is obtained by condensing the exiting vapor stream, if the top of the column were producing nearly pure butane the condensing temperature would be around 31°F( - 1°C). To obtain condensation at this temperature a coolant is needed at a temperature at least 10°F (5°C) cooler. This means that... 

The compound (of zero oxygen balance) is a powerful explosive, as is pentan-itrobenzene. As a nitrocarbon, it has similar properties to tetranitromethane and hexanitroethane. 

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