Ethylene#Nomenclature

Image:Dewar-Chatt-Duncanson model.png

This hydrocarbon has four hydrogen atoms bound to a pair of carbon atoms that are connected by a double bond. All six atoms that comprise ethylene are coplanar. The H-C-H angle is 117.4°, close to the 120° for ideal sp² hybridized carbon. The molecule is also relatively weak: rotation about the C-C bond is a very low energy process that requires breaking the π-bond by supplying heat at 50 °C.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

The π-bond in the ethylene molecule is responsible for its useful reactivity. The double bond is a region of high electron density, thus it is susceptible to attack by electrophiles. Many reactions of ethylene are catalyzed by transition metals, which bind transiently to the ethylene using both the π and π* orbitals.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Being a simple molecule, ethylene is spectroscopically simple. Its UV-vis spectrum is still used as a test of theoretical methods.{{cite web |title=Ethylene:UV/Visible Spectrum |work=NIST Webbook |url=http://webbook.nist.gov/cgi/cbook.cgi?ID=C74851&Units=SI&Mask=400#UV-Vis-Spec |access-date=2006-09-27 |archive-date=2017-01-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170119013204/http://webbook.nist.gov/cgi/cbook.cgi?ID=C74851&Units=SI&Mask=400#UV-Vis-Spec |url-status=live }}

File:Uses_of_Ethene.tif

Major industrial reactions of ethylene include in order of scale: 1) polymerization, 2) oxidation, 3) halogenation and hydrohalogenation, 4) alkylation, 5) hydration, 6) oligomerization, and 7) hydroformylation. In the United States and Europe, approximately 90% of ethylene is used to produce ethylene oxide, ethylene dichloride, ethylbenzene and polyethylene.{{cite web |url=http://www.inchem.org/documents/sids/sids/74851.pdf |title=OECD SIDS Initial Assessment Profile — Ethylene |publisher=inchem.org |access-date=2008-05-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924051942/http://www.inchem.org/documents/sids/sids/74851.pdf |archive-date=2015-09-24 |url-status=dead}} Most of the reactions with ethylene are electrophilic addition.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Image:C2H4uses.png, precursor to ethylene glycol; to ethylbenzene, precursor to styrene; to various kinds of polyethylene; to ethylene dichloride, precursor to vinyl chloride.]]

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{{See also|Ziegler–Natta catalyst|Polyethylene}}

Polyethylene production uses more than half of the world's ethylene supply. Polyethylene, also called polyethene and polythene, is the world's most widely used plastic. It is primarily used to make films in packaging, carrier bags and trash liners. Linear alpha-olefins, produced by oligomerization (formation of short-chain molecules) are used as precursors, detergents, plasticisers, synthetic lubricants, additives, and also as co-monomers in the production of polyethylenes.

Ethylene is oxidized to produce ethylene oxide, a key raw material in the production of surfactants and detergents by ethoxylation. Ethylene oxide is also hydrolyzed to produce ethylene glycol, widely used as an automotive antifreeze as well as higher molecular weight glycols, glycol ethers, and polyethylene terephthalate.{{Cite web|title=Ethylene Glycol: Systemic Agent|url=https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ershdb/emergencyresponsecard_29750031.html|website=Center for Disease Control|date=20 October 2021|access-date=20 February 2022|archive-date=26 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226021019/https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ershdb/EmergencyResponseCard_29750031.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=Ethylene Glycol|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/ethylene-glycol|website=Science Direct|access-date=2022-02-20|archive-date=2022-02-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220235304/https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/ethylene-glycol|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Wacker process}}

Ethylene oxidation in the presence of a palladium catalyst can form acetaldehyde. This conversion remains a major industrial process (10M kg/y).{{cite book |vauthors=Elschenbroich C, Salzer A |title=Organometallics: A Concise Introduction |edition=2nd |publisher=Wiley-VCH |location=Weinheim |year=2006 |isbn=978-3-527-28165-7 }} The process proceeds via the initial complexation of ethylene to a Pd(II) center.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Major intermediates from the halogenation and hydrohalogenation of ethylene include ethylene dichloride, ethyl chloride, and ethylene dibromide. The addition of chlorine entails "oxychlorination", i.e. chlorine itself is not used. Some products derived from this group are polyvinyl chloride, trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene, methyl chloroform, polyvinylidene chloride and copolymers, and ethyl bromide.

Major chemical intermediates from the alkylation with ethylene is ethylbenzene, precursor to styrene. Styrene is used principally in polystyrene for packaging and insulation, as well as in styrene-butadiene rubber for tires and footwear. On a smaller scale, ethyltoluene, ethylanilines, 1,4-hexadiene, and aluminium alkyls. Products of these intermediates include polystyrene, unsaturated polyesters and ethylene-propylene terpolymers.

The hydroformylation (oxo reaction) of ethylene results in propionaldehyde, a precursor to propionic acid and n-propyl alcohol.

Ethylene has long represented the major nonfermentative precursor to ethanol. The original method entailed its conversion to diethyl sulfate, followed by hydrolysis. The main method practiced since the mid-1990s is the direct hydration of ethylene catalyzed by solid acid catalysts:{{cite book |vauthors=Kosaric N, Duvnjak Z, Farkas A, Sahm H, Bringer-Meyer S, Goebel O, Mayer D |chapter=Ethanol |title=Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry |date=2011 |pages=1–72 |publisher=Wiley-VCH |location=Weinheim |doi=10.1002/14356007.a09_587.pub2 |isbn=9783527306732}}

:C₂H₄ + H₂O → CH₃CH₂OH

Ethylene is dimerized by hydrovinylation to give n-butenes using processes licensed by Lummus or IFP. The Lummus process produces mixed n-butenes (primarily 2-butenes) while the IFP process produces 1-butene. 1-Butene is used as a comonomer in the production of certain kinds of polyethylene.{{Cite web|title=1-Butene - Major Uses |url=https://webwiser.nlm.nih.gov/substance?substanceId=474&identifier=1-Butene&identifierType=name&menuItemId=22&catId=24|access-date=2021-11-16|website=WISER |language=en |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211116165807/https://webwiser.nlm.nih.gov/substance?substanceId=474&identifier=1-Butene&identifierType=name&menuItemId=22&catId=24 |archive-date= Nov 16, 2021 }}

{{main|Ethylene (plant hormone)}}

Ethylene is a hormone that affects the ripening and flowering of many plants. It is widely used to control freshness in horticulture and fruits.{{Cite book|last1=Arshad|first1=Muhammad|title=Ethylene|last2=Frankenberger|first2=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7U-4TU0ryoAC&pg=PA289 |publisher=Springer|year=2002|isbn=978-0-306-46666-3|location=Boston, MA|pages=289}} The scrubbing of naturally occurring ethylene delays ripening.{{Cite book |last1=Melton |first1=Laurence |first2=Fereidoon |last2=Shahidi |first3=Peter |last3=Varelis |title=Encyclopedia of Food Chemistry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MTV8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA114 |publisher=Elsevier |year=2019 |isbn=978-0-12-814045-1 |location=Netherlands |pages=114}} Adsorption of ethylene by nets coated in titanium dioxide gel has also been shown to be effective.{{cite journal | title = Gelatin-TiO2-coated expanded polyethylene foam nets as ethylene scavengers for fruit postharvest application | first1 = J. | last1 = de Matos Fonseca | first2 = N.Y.L | last2 = Pabón | first3 = L.G | last3 = Nandi | journal = Postharvest Biology and Technology | date = 2021 | volume = 180 | doi = 10.1016/j.postharvbio.2021.111602}}

An example of a niche use is as an anesthetic agent (in an 85% ethylene/15% oxygen ratio).{{cite journal |vauthors=Trout HH |title=Blood Changes Under Ethylene Anæsthesia |journal=Annals of Surgery |volume=86 |issue=2 |pages=260–7 |date=August 1927 |pmid=17865725 |pmc=1399426 |doi=10.1097/00000658-192708000-00013}} It is also used as a refrigerant gas for low temperature applications under the name R-1150.{{Cite web |date=April 2015 |title=R-1150 ETHYLENE Safety Data Sheet |url=https://www.arma.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/SDS-R1150-Ethylene.pdf |access-date=1 July 2023 |website=Australian Refrigeration Mechanics Association |archive-date=1 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701104846/https://www.arma.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/SDS-R1150-Ethylene.pdf |url-status=live }}

Global ethylene production was 107 million tonnes in 2005, 109 million tonnes in 2006,Nattrass, L and Higson, A (22 July 2010) [http://www.nnfcc.co.uk/publications/nnfcc-renewable-chemicals-factsheet-ethanol NNFCC Renewable Chemicals Factsheet: Ethanol] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120905034212/http://www.nnfcc.co.uk/publications/nnfcc-renewable-chemicals-factsheet-ethanol |date=2012-09-05 }}. National Non-Food Crops Centre 138 million tonnes in 2010, and 141 million tonnes in 2011.{{cite journal |last=True |first=Warren R. |name-list-style=vanc |journal=Oil & Gas Journal |year=2012 |volume=110 |issue=7 |url=http://www.ogj.com/articles/print/vol-110/issue-07/special-report-ethylene-report/global-ethylene-capacity.html |title=Global ethylene capacity poised for major expansion |pages=90–95 |access-date=2016-05-06 |archive-date=2016-06-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604011302/http://www.ogj.com/articles/print/vol-110/issue-07/special-report-ethylene-report/global-ethylene-capacity.html |url-status=live }} By 2013, ethylene was produced by at least 117 companies in 32 countries. To meet the ever-increasing demand for ethylene, sharp increases in production facilities are added globally, particularly in the Mideast and in China.{{cite web |url=http://www.ceresana.com/en/market-studies/chemicals/ethylene/ |title=Market Study: Ethylene (2nd edition), Ceresana, November 2014 |publisher=ceresana.com |access-date=2015-02-03 |archive-date=2015-03-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150307115926/http://www.ceresana.com/en/market-studies/chemicals/ethylene/ |url-status=live }} Production emits greenhouse gas, namely significant amounts of carbon dioxide.{{Cite journal |last1=Mynko |first1=Oleksii |last2=Amghizar |first2=Ismaël |last3=Brown |first3=David J. |last4=Chen |first4=Lin |last5=Marin |first5=Guy B. |last6=de Alvarenga |first6=Rodrigo Freitas |last7=Uslu |first7=Didem Civancik |last8=Dewulf |first8=Jo |last9=Van Geem |first9=Kevin M. |date=2022-08-15 |title=Reducing CO2 emissions of existing ethylene plants: Evaluation of different revamp strategies to reduce global CO2 emission by 100 million tonnes |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652622017334 |journal=Journal of Cleaner Production |language=en |volume=362 |pages=132127 |doi=10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.132127 |bibcode=2022JCPro.36232127M |hdl=1854/LU-8760240 |s2cid=248838079 |issn=0959-6526|hdl-access=free }}

Ethylene is produced by several methods in the petrochemical industry. A primary method is steam cracking (SC) where hydrocarbons and steam are heated to 750–950 °C. This process converts large hydrocarbons into smaller ones and introduces unsaturation. When ethane is the feedstock, ethylene is the product. Ethylene is separated from the resulting mixture by repeated compression and distillation.{{cite book |vauthors=Kniel L, Winter O, Stork K |title=Ethylene, keystone to the petrochemical industry |year=1980 |publisher=M. Dekker |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8247-6914-7 }} In Europe and Asia, ethylene is obtained mainly from cracking naphtha, gasoil and condensates with the coproduction of propylene, C4 olefins and aromatics (pyrolysis gasoline).{{cite web |url=https://www.icis.com/explore/resources/news/2007/11/05/9075778/ethylene-production-and-manufacturing-process |title=Ethylene Production and Manufacturing Process |website=Icis |access-date=2019-07-29 |archive-date=2019-07-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729165959/https://www.icis.com/explore/resources/news/2007/11/05/9075778/ethylene-production-and-manufacturing-process |url-status=live }} Other procedures employed for the production of ethylene include Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and methanol-to-olefins (MTO).{{cite journal |title=New Trends in Olefin Production |vauthors=Amghizar I, Vandewalle LA, Van Geem KM, Marin GB |doi=10.1016/J.ENG.2017.02.006 |journal=Engineering |year=2017 |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=171–178 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2017Engin...3..171A }}

Although of great value industrially, ethylene is rarely synthesized in the laboratory and is ordinarily purchased.{{cite book |vauthors=Crimmins MT, Kim-Meade AS |chapter=Ethylene |editor=Paquette, L. |title=Encyclopedia of Reagents for Organic Synthesis |publisher=Wiley |location=New York |year=2001 |doi=10.1002/047084289X.re066 |isbn=0471936235}} It can be produced via dehydration of ethanol with sulfuric acid or in the gas phase with aluminium oxide or activated alumina.{{cite book |title=Practical Organic Chemistry (preparation 4) |last=Cohen |first=Julius B. |name-list-style=vanc |publisher=Macmillan |year=1930}}

Ethylene is produced from methionine in nature. The immediate precursor is 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid.{{cite journal | vauthors = Yang SF, Hoffman NE | title = Ethylene biosynthesis and its regulation in higher plants | journal = Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. | volume = 35 | pages = 155–89 | year = 1984 | doi = 10.1146/annurev.pp.35.060184.001103}}

file:Rh2Cl2 C2H4 4.svg is a well-studied complex of ethylene.{{cite journal|title=chlorobis(ethylene)rhodium(I) dimer

|author=Neely, Jamie M.

|journal=E-EROS Encyclopedia of Reagents for Organic Synthesis|year=2014|pages=1–6|doi=10.1002/047084289X.rn01715|isbn=9780470842898

}}]]

Ethylene is a fundamental ligand in transition metal alkene complexes. One of the first organometallic compounds, Zeise's salt is a complex of ethylene. Useful reagents containing ethylene include Pt(PPh₃)₂(C₂H₄) and Rh₂Cl₂(C₂H₄)₄. The Rh-catalysed hydroformylation of ethylene is conducted on an industrial scale to provide propionaldehyde.{{Cite book |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/14356007 |title=Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry |date=2003-03-11 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-3-527-30385-4 |editor-last=Wiley-VCH |edition=1 |language=en |doi=10.1002/14356007.a22_157.pub3 |access-date=2023-10-17 |archive-date=2018-03-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305044518/http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/book/10.1002/14356007 |url-status=live }}

Some geologists and scholars believe that the famous Greek Oracle at Delphi (the Pythia) went into her trance-like state as an effect of ethylene rising from ground faults.{{cite magazine |title=Delphic Oracle's Lips May Have Been Loosened by Gas Vapors |first=John |last=Roach |name-list-style=vanc |magazine=National Geographic |date=2001-08-14 |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/08/0814_delphioracle.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010924070805/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/08/0814_delphioracle.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 24, 2001 |access-date=March 8, 2007}}

Ethylene appears to have been discovered by Johann Joachim Becher, who obtained it by heating ethanol with sulfuric acid;{{cite book |first1=Henry Enfield |last1=Roscoe |first2=Carl |last2=Schorlemmer |name-list-style=vanc |title=A treatise on chemistry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o7gtAAAAYAAJ |year=1878 |publisher=D. Appleton |page=611 |volume=1}} he mentioned the gas in his Physica Subterranea (1669).{{cite book |first=James Campbell |last=Brown |name-list-style=vanc |title=A History of Chemistry: From the Earliest Times Till the Present Day |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pEhCyILvi8cC |date=July 2006 |publisher=Kessinger |isbn=978-1-4286-3831-0 |page=225}} Joseph Priestley also mentions the gas in his Experiments and observations relating to the various branches of natural philosophy: with a continuation of the observations on air (1779), where he reports that Jan Ingenhousz saw ethylene synthesized in the same way by a Mr. Enée in Amsterdam in 1777 and that Ingenhousz subsequently produced the gas himself.Appendix, §VIII, pp. 474 ff., [https://archive.org/stream/experimentsobser00prie#page/474/mode/2up Experiments and observations relating to the various branches of natural philosophy: with a continuation of the observations on air], Joseph Priestley, London: printed for J. Johnson, 1779, vol. 1. The properties of ethylene were studied in 1795 by four Dutch chemists, Johann Rudolph Deimann, Adrien Paets van Troostwyck, Anthoni Lauwerenburgh and Nicolas Bondt, who found that it differed from hydrogen gas and that it contained both carbon and hydrogen.{{harvnb|Roscoe|Schorlemmer|1878|p=612}} This group also discovered that ethylene could be combined with chlorine to produce the Dutch oil, 1,2-dichloroethane; this discovery gave ethylene the name used for it at that time, olefiant gas (oil-making gas.){{harvnb|Roscoe|Schorlemmer|1878|p=613}}
{{cite book |first=William |last=Gregory | name-list-style = vanc |title=Handbook of organic chemistry |url=https://archive.org/details/handbookorganic00greggoog |year=1857 |publisher=A.S. Barnes & Co. |page=[https://archive.org/details/handbookorganic00greggoog/page/n167 157] |edition=4th American}} The term olefiant gas is in turn the etymological origin of the modern word "olefin", the class of hydrocarbons in which ethylene is the first member.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

In the mid-19th century, the suffix -ene (an Ancient Greek root added to the end of female names meaning "daughter of") was widely used to refer to a molecule or part thereof that contained one fewer hydrogen atoms than the molecule being modified. Thus, ethylene ({{chem|C|2|H|4}}) was the "daughter of ethyl" ({{chem|C|2|H|5}}). The name ethylene was used in this sense as early as 1852.{{Cite web |title=ethylene {{!}} Etymology, origin and meaning of ethylene |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/ethylene |access-date=2022-07-19 |website=etymonline |language=en |archive-date=2022-07-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719133429/https://www.etymonline.com/word/ethylene |url-status=live }}

In 1866, the German chemist August Wilhelm von Hofmann proposed a system of hydrocarbon nomenclature in which the suffixes -ane, -ene, -ine, -one, and -une were used to denote the hydrocarbons with 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 fewer hydrogens than their parent alkane.{{cite web|url=http://www.chem.yale.edu/~chem125/125/history99/5Valence/Nomenclature/Hofmannaeiou.html|title=Hofmann's Proposal for Systematic Nomenclature of the Hydrocarbons| vauthors = Hofmann AW |access-date=2007-01-06|publisher=www.chem.yale.edu|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060903081507/http://www.chem.yale.edu/~chem125/125/history99/5Valence/Nomenclature/Hofmannaeiou.html|archive-date=2006-09-03}} In this system, ethylene became ethene. Hofmann's system eventually became the basis for the Geneva nomenclature approved by the International Congress of Chemists in 1892, which remains at the core of the IUPAC nomenclature. However, by that time, the name ethylene was deeply entrenched, and it remains in wide use today, especially in the chemical industry.

Following experimentation by Luckhardt, Crocker, and Carter at the University of Chicago,{{cite journal | vauthors = Luckhardt A, Carter JB |date=1 December 1923 |title=Ethylene as a gas anesthetic |journal=Current Researches in Anesthesia & Analgesia |volume=2 |issue=6 |pages=221–229 |doi=10.1213/00000539-192312000-00004|s2cid=71058633 }} ethylene was used as an anesthetic.{{cite journal | vauthors = Johnstone GA | title = Advantages of Ethylene-Oxygen as a General Anesthetic | journal = California and Western Medicine | volume = 27 | issue = 2 | pages = 216–8 | date = August 1927 | pmid = 18740435 | pmc = 1655579 }}{{cite book |first1=Heinz |last1=Zimmermann |first2=Roland |last2=Walz | name-list-style = vanc |chapter=Ethylene |title=Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry |publisher=Wiley-VCH |location=Weinheim |year=2008 |doi=10.1002/14356007.a10_045.pub3|isbn=978-3527306732}} It remained in use through the 1940s, even while chloroform was being phased out. Its pungent odor and its explosive nature limit its use today.{{cite journal | vauthors = Whalen FX, Bacon DR, Smith HM | title = Inhaled anesthetics: an historical overview | journal = Best Practice & Research. Clinical Anaesthesiology | volume = 19 | issue = 3 | pages = 323–30 | date = September 2005 | pmid = 16013684 | doi = 10.1016/j.bpa.2005.02.001}}

The 1979 IUPAC nomenclature rules made an exception for retaining the non-systematic name ethylene;[http://www.acdlabs.com/iupac/nomenclature/79/r79_53.htm#a_3__1 IUPAC nomenclature rule A-3.1 (1979)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001010202833/http://www.acdlabs.com/iupac/nomenclature/79/r79_53.htm#a_3__1 |date=2000-10-10 }}. Acdlabs.com. Retrieved on 2016-04-24. however, this decision was reversed in the 1993 rules,[http://www.acdlabs.com/iupac/nomenclature/93/r93_684.htm Footnote to IUPAC nomenclature rule R-9.1, table 19(b)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071219101601/http://www.acdlabs.com/iupac/nomenclature/93/r93_684.htm |date=2007-12-19 }}. Acdlabs.com. Retrieved on 2016-04-24. and it remains unchanged in the newest 2013 recommendations,{{cite book |title=Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry: IUPAC Recommendations and Preferred Names 2013 |date=2014 |publisher=Royal Society of Chemistry |editor1=Favre, Henri A. |editor2=Powell, Warren H. |isbn=9781849733069 |location=Cambridge |oclc=865143943}} so the IUPAC name is now ethene. In the IUPAC system, the name ethylene is reserved for the divalent group -CH₂CH₂-. Hence, names like ethylene oxide and ethylene dibromide are permitted, but the use of the name ethylene for the two-carbon alkene is not. Nevertheless, use of the name ethylene for H₂C=CH₂ (and propylene for H₂C=CHCH₃) is still prevalent among chemists in North America.{{Cite book |last1=Vollhardt |first1=K. Peter C. |last2=Schore |first2=Neil Eric |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1007924903 |title=Organic chemistry : structure and function|date=2018 |isbn=978-1-319-07945-1 |edition=8 |location=New York |publisher=Macmillan Learning |pages=470 |oclc=1007924903}}

"A key factor affecting petrochemicals life-cycle emissions is the methane intensity of feedstocks, especially in the production segment."{{Cite web |last=Mills |first=Ryan |date=2023-02-21 |title=Clean Energy 101: Reducing Climate Pollution from the Plastics Industry |url=https://rmi.org/clean-energy-101-reducing-climate-pollution-from-the-plastics-industry/ |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=RMI |language=en-US |archive-date=2024-02-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240215234824/https://rmi.org/clean-energy-101-reducing-climate-pollution-from-the-plastics-industry/ |url-status=live }} Emissions from cracking of naptha and natural gas (common in the US as gas is cheap there) depend a lot on the source of energy (for example gas burnt to provide high temperatures{{Cite web |title=Policy Brief: Climate change impacts of plastics |url=https://ikhapp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SCEPT_Policy_Brief_Climate_Impacts_of_Plastics.pdf |access-date=2024-02-16 |archive-date=2023-11-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128105933/https://ikhapp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SCEPT_Policy_Brief_Climate_Impacts_of_Plastics.pdf |url-status=live }}) but that from naptha is certainly more per kg of feedstock.{{Cite web |title=Making Plastics Emissions Transparent |url=https://ccsi.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/COMET-making-plastics-emissions-transparent.pdf |date=February 2022 |page=8 |access-date=2024-02-16 |archive-date=2024-02-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229165356/https://ccsi.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/COMET-making-plastics-emissions-transparent.pdf |url-status=live }} Both steam cracking and production from natural gas via ethane are estimated to emit 1.8 to 2kg of CO2 per kg ethylene produced,{{Cite journal |last1=Leonzio |first1=Grazia |last2=Chachuat |first2=Benoit |last3=Shah |first3=Nilay |date=2023-12-01 |title=Towards ethylene production from carbon dioxide: Economic and global warming potential assessment |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352550923002452 |journal=Sustainable Production and Consumption |volume=43 |pages=124–139 |doi=10.1016/j.spc.2023.10.015 |bibcode=2023SusPC..43..124L |s2cid=264464920 |issn=2352-5509|hdl=11584/391945 |hdl-access=free }} totalling over 260 million tonnes a year.{{Cite web |title=Net-zero carbon ethylene production via recovery of CO2 from cracking furnace flue gas |url=https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en/ci/products/net-zero-carbon-ethylene-production.html |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=S&P Global |archive-date=2024-02-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240216070405/https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en/ci/products/net-zero-carbon-ethylene-production.html |url-status=live }} This is more than all other manufactured chemicals except cement and ammonia.{{Cite web |title=A breakthrough discovery in carbon capture conversion for ethylene production |url=https://today.uic.edu/a-breakthrough-discovery-in-carbon-capture-conversion-for-ethylene-production/ |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=today.uic.edu |archive-date=2024-02-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240216071319/https://today.uic.edu/a-breakthrough-discovery-in-carbon-capture-conversion-for-ethylene-production/ |url-status=live }} According to a 2022 report using renewable or nuclear energy could cut emissions by almost half.

Like all hydrocarbons, ethylene is a combustible asphyxiant. It is listed as an IARC group 3 agent, since there is no current evidence that it causes cancer in humans.{{cite web |url=http://www.inchem.org/documents/iarc/vol60/m60-01.html |title=Ethylene (IARC Summary & Evaluation, Volume 60, 1994) |website=www.inchem.org |access-date=2019-01-13 |archive-date=2019-01-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113232534/http://www.inchem.org/documents/iarc/vol60/m60-01.html |url-status=live }}

• RediRipe, an ethylene detector for fruits.

{{reflist|35em}}

{{Commons category|Ethylene}}

• [http://www.inchem.org/documents/icsc/icsc/eics0475.htm International Chemical Safety Card 0475]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20061113092037/http://www.novachem.com/ProductServices/docs/Ethylene_MSDS_EN.pdf MSDS]

{{Alkenes}}

{{Functional Groups}}

{{Molecules detected in outer space}}

{{General anesthetics}}

{{Hydrides by group}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Alkenes

Category:General anesthetics

Category:Monomers

Category:Commodity chemicals

Category:Petrochemicals

Category:Industrial gases

Category:Greenhouse gases

Category:Organic compounds with 2 carbon atoms