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How does an addition reaction produce ethanol from ethylene and water?

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combustion — chemical reaction Log burning in a fire. Burning wood is an example of a chemical reaction in which wood in the presence of heat and oxygen is transformed into carbon dioxide, water vapor, and ash.

The production of ethanol from ethylene and water is achieved through an addition reaction known as hydration. In this process, a water molecule is added across the carbon-to-carbon double bond of the ethylene molecule, effectively breaking the double bond to accommodate the new atoms and forming a single, saturated molecule of ethanol.

To facilitate this reaction, a mixture of ethylene and a large excess of steam is passed over an acidic catalyst at high temperature and pressure. Because ethylene is an alkene—an unsaturated organic compound—it is highly reactive toward such addition processes, which are often referred to as saturation reactions because they maximize the number of groups attached to the carbon atoms. The resulting ethanol is then typically concentrated through distillation to reach the desired purity.12