Question

At first I thought it was Reed's reaction but then I looked up the reaction and the reactant was actually SO2Cl2

(sulfuryl chloride).

I couldn't find the product which would be produced when any alkane reacts with SO2
. Does it react and what would be the product?

Answer 1

Alkanes do not have a well-documented reaction with sulfur dioxide (SO2), as alkanes are inert compounds that lack functional groups that react with SO2. Instead, sulfur dioxide typically reacts with oxygen to form sulfur trioxide (SO3), a process that is well-known and documented in chemistry.

Step-by-step explanation:

The reaction between an alkane and sulfur dioxide (SO2) is not a commonly studied or straightforward reaction. There isn't a well-documented or widely recognized reaction between alkanes and SO2 in the absence of other reagents or catalysts.

Alkanes are known to be quite inert due to the strength of the C-H bonds and the lack of a functional group that could react with SO2. In typical organic chemistry reactions, sulfur dioxide often acts as an oxidizing agent rather than directly reacting with alkanes.

However, when discussing sulfur reactions, the reaction between sulfur dioxide and oxygen to form sulfur trioxide is well-documented:

• SO2 + O2 → 2SO3

Sulfur trioxide can also form slowly when heating sulfur dioxide and oxygen together in an exothermic reaction:

• 2SO2(g) + O2(g) → 2SO3 (g) (ΔH° = -197.8 kJ)