Talk:Ethylene

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1 Diagram
2 Title and name
3 Boiling point/melting point
4 Production
5 plant hormone
6 Explanation and Details of "Speculative" Remarks
- 6.1 Location, Characteristics and Occasions for Synthesis Induction
- 6.2 Effects
7 Ethylene is important, so we should to upgrade this article
8 Ethylene Muscle Enhancement

[edit] Diagram

1Is the diagram in the page of C2H4 a Lewis dot diagram or a ball and stick diagram, like one of a model???

[edit] Title and name

Moved to ethylene because this is by far the more commonly used name. Google poll: ethylene 643,000; ethene 28,100. Shimmin 16:25, 5 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Google is not always a good guide. IIRC, Ethene is the correct systematic name. I suggest we move it back -- Tarquin 16:59, 5 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Please see the discussion in WikiProject:Chemicals. What's the point of listing it under the IUPAC name when the IUPAC name is not the name that those who produce or use the compound call it? I see this as analogous to listing personal names like Jimmy Carter instead James Earl Carter. We want to maximize the likelihood that the page in the Wikipedia is the page people find when they look for information using a search engine or guess a page name in the address window, and we want to maximize the likelihood that people who refer to ethylene in other articles get the actual article rather than having to go through a redirect.

Ethylene is the name you'll find the compound listed under in a number of standard chemical references, including the Merck Index and the Kirk-Othmer Encylcopedia. It is the name it is sold under as a commercial product. The Google poll is not an inherently reliable method, but in this case it very much does reflect actual use. -- Shimmin 17:48, 5 Sep 2003 (UTC)

it was always called ethene in school. Could this be another case of US vs rest of the english-speaking world? -- Tarquin 20:35, 5 Sep 2003 (UTC)

No. I think it's a case of academia vs. industry. If it's just another molecule to fit into your nomenclature scheme, it's ethene. If you actually use it, it's ethylene.

For a Google-based demonstration of this (flawed, I know, but it's the one tool we all have access to...), do the phrase "ethene production". You'll get 145 hits, and the first few will have been written by biologists regarding its production by ripening fruit. Now do "ethylene production." You should get over 12,000 hits.

More dramatically, "ethene producer" gives 6 hits, compared to 448 for "ethylene producer." Ethylene is the name almost universally used in the chemical industry. And it's not just US thing. The Imperial Chemical Industries call it that, too.

The principle I'm trying to discover is this: obviously, water belongs where it is rather than at hydrogen oxide or hydroxic acid. It belongs there because the common name is overwhelmingly more commonly used than the systematic name. Now, how much more overwhelming should it be? acetylene vs. ethyne? formaldehyde vs. methanal? chloroform vs. trichloromethane? acetic acid vs. ethanoic acid? The more important a substance is, the more likely that it has a highly entrenched non-IUPAC name. Shimmin

Google will find it at Ethene or Etylene aslong as there is a redirect page. http://www.google.com/search?&q=site%3Awikipedia.org+ethylene+redirected Mintguy 21:07, 5 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Granted, but if you want to score high in PageRank, an article will almost certainly do better than a redirect. Shimmin

Ethene sounds better, and is the IUPAC recommented name for good reasons. But its nigh on impossible to fight convention. Grrr, convention... mastodon 16:12, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Boiling point/melting point

some where i read that boiling point of ethene is -83.4 and melting point is -81. i want to know that thise is righ

No, this is wrong. The correct values are in the the article, found in the box on the right - mastodon 16:12, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Production

It would be helpful to be more clear in this section what the feedstocks are for Ethylene production, rather than just "hydrocarbons". Perhaps a mention of the Fischer-Tropsch process might be helpful as well. --Benjamindees 23:49, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] plant hormone

Where exactly is ethylene synthesised?

[edit] Explanation and Details of "Speculative" Remarks

Hi. I initiated the "Location" and the "Effects" sections. They are derived from 2 1/2 years of library study of all the plant hormones in the mid 1980's! Keep this in mind when looking over the entries. Unfortunately I lost some of my notes and I did some specualtion about what the plant is trying to do when it makes a hormone. In the original form of the article, I mixed them up and failed to indicate what was speculative and what was not.

I will try to show below what I remember as being speculations on my part and what is solidly referenced. Please keep in mind that others appear to have added to my list, and some of my speculation could have been right, so some references may actually exist. My aim for revealing this, is in part embaressment that my entries continue to exist alongside other authoritative articles in Wikipedia and this is not entirely appropriate for an Encyclopedia. Mea culpa. Anyway my speculative article is here: http://www.planthormones.info/.

[edit] Location, Characteristics and Occasions for Synthesis Induction

Directly induced by high levels of auxin - solidly referenced (at least high auxin induces Ethylene but perhaps in an indirect way as I speculate in my theory pages that Auxin massivley draws nutrients to itself starving nearby cells of minerals and water thereby leading to Ethylene production - see my article http://www.planthormones.info/).
Found in germinating seeds - solidly referenced.
Induced by root flooding - solidly referenced.
Induced by drought - solidly referenced.
Synthesized in nodes of stems - solidly referenced.
Synthesized in tissues of ripening fruits - solidly referenced.
Synthesized in response to shoot environmental, pest, or disease stress - solidly referenced.
Synthesized in senescent leaves and flowers - solidly referenced.
Rapidly diffuses - solidly referenced.
Inhibiting effects of ethylene on shoot growth (more specifically on stem elongation) reduced in the presence of light. Also ethylene levels are decreased by light - solidly referenced? Please check.
The above may be because light induces auxin synthesis and moderate auxin levels inhibit ethylene - speculative.
Released in mature (and to a lesser extent immature cells) cells when they do not have enough minerals and water to support both themselves and any dependent cells - speculative.

[edit] Effects

Stimulates leaf and flower senescence - solidly referenced.
Induces leaf abscission mainly in older leaves - solidly referenced although the idea that older leaves go first is speculative perhaps, please be careful.
Induces seed germination - solidly referenced.
Induces root hair growth – this increases the efficiency of water and mineral absorption - I think this is solidly referenced, but please check out.
Stimulates epinasty – leaf petiole grows out, leaf hangs down and curls into itself - solidly referenced. By the way, a new speculation of mine is that Epinasty allows the plant to act like a handled water pump and pump out flooded roots. The leaf in the Epinastic position would be the handle and maybe special valves would be induced by Ethylene in the Xylem and grow under flooding conditions.
Stimulates fruit ripening - solidly referenced.
Induces the growth of adventitious roots during flooding - solidly referenced.
Usually inhibits growth - although perhaps just shoot growth - I think growth inhibition is solidly referenced but be a little careful. The shoot growth part is speculative.
Affects neighboring individuals - solidly referenced (bad apple spoils the bunch).
Disease/wounding resistance - sound right, I remember reading about this. According to my idea ethylene, and gibberellin (or brassinosteroid) make a plant stronger but smaller.
Triple response when applied to seedlings – root and shoot growth inhibition and pronounced hypocotyl hook bending - solidly referenced. Does not fit my specualtive theory, so my theory needs work.
Inhibits stem swelling ? - Contradictory to the finding below – contradictory refereces.
Stimulates cell broadening (and lateral root growth) - Former is solidly referenced, the latter may be speculative.
Interference with auxin transport (with high auxin concentrations) - may be speculative, please research.
Directly or indirectly induces auxin at high levels - speculative.
Inhibits the rate of metabolism of cells in the shoot so as to redirect resources to the root - speculative.
Is a general indicator of poor root health. Strategy of senescent leaves may to funnel more resources to the root - speculative.
May be more active at night when root and mineral acquisition are, on average, lower - speculative.
Just as a role of auxin may be to increase minerals and water by shoot growth, ethylene may do this by shoot senescence. My suggestion is that Cytokinin and auxin hormones are released when conditions are favorable for growth, for example during the day. Ethylene and gibberellin (or brassinosteroid) may be released when the plant must either cut back in size, or survive on stored resources, for example during the night - speculative.
Induces flowering in pineapples - solidly referenced I'm guessing, but I think it was me who made this entry
In food production, some plants are considered ethylene producers, while others are considered ethylene sensitive. Entry not made by me, interesting though.--socrtwo 03:39, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Ethylene is important, so we should to upgrade this article

Ethylene is an extremely important chemical, and we should show this by upgrading this report. Before I get cranked up, I welcome suggestions and directions. My initial concerns upon looking at this thing:

needs more emphasis on basic chemistry - where it comes from and what its good for. Part of the problem is that ethylene is so important, even organic texts tend not to discuss it!
Maybe a MO scheme.
more in-line references guiding readers to sources
two screenfuls of info on "effects on humans" (reference-less) seems excessive and highly anecdotal, but what do we do? One approach, chop it way down and encourage readers to consult the MSDS.
1.5 screenfuls of bullets listing the effects and factoids associated with ethylene as a hormone. No references.

Again, suggestions are welcome.--Smokefoot 23:18, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

Agree on the importance - and the difficulty in digging-up data from most texts. Even many polymer chem books just assume that you know all about this most critical of feedstocks. I'll work on documenting the Ethylene as a growth facter/hormone section; and, yes, the majority of the human effects section can be trimmed, IMHO. -- MarcoTolo 00:15, 28 September 2006 (UTC)