CHEMISTRY OF HYDROGEN

MODULE 12

INSTRUCTOR 1
 ABUNDANCE
• Hydrogen is the most abundant chemical
substance in the universe, especially in stars
and gas giant planets.
• However, monoatomic hydrogen is rare on
Earth because of its tendency to form covalent
bonds with most elements.
• Hydrogen is prevalent on Earth in the form of
chemical compounds such as hydrocarbons
and water.
 GENERAL PROPERTIES

• Hydrogen is one of the most important

elements in the world. It is all around us;
• It is a component of water (H2O), fats,
petroleum, table sugar (C6H12O6), ammonia
(NH3), and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2);
• Hydrogen is the smallest chemical element
because it consists of only one proton in its
nucleus;
 GENERAL PROPERTIES

• Its symbol is H, and its atomic number is 1;

• At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen
is a nontoxic, nonmetallic, odorless, tasteless,
colorless, and highly combustible diatomic gas
with the molecular formula H2;
• Hydrogen is the lightest element and will explode
at concentrations ranging from 4-75 percent by
volume in the presence of sunlight, a flame, or a
spark.
 PRODUCTION

• The most important industrial method for the

production of hydrogen is the catalytic
steam–hydrocarbon process, in which gaseous
or vaporized hydrocarbons are treated with
steam at high pressure over a nickel catalyst at
650°–950° to produce carbon oxides and
hydrogen:
• CnH2n+2 + nH2O → nCO + (2n + 1)H2
 PRODUCTION

• Before 1940 most of the world production of

hydrogen was made by processes based on
coal or coke, the principal one being a
water–gas reaction between steam and red-hot
coke:
H2O + C → CO + H2.
• By 1970, relatively little hydrogen was being
produced by such processes.
 PRODUCTION
• Small amounts of hydrogen produced by the
electrolysis of aqueous solutions of salt or
sodium hydroxide, the electrode reaction being
H2O + e− → 1/2H2 + OH−.
• The reaction between sulfuric or hydrochloric
acid and an active metal like zinc is utilized to
liberate hydrogen in the laboratory, but such
hydrogen usually contains trace quantities of
volatile hydrides.
LABORATORY PREPARATION OF HYDROGEN

• Hydrogen is prepared in the laboratory by the

action of the dilute hydrochloric acid or dilute
sulphuric acid on granulated zinc;
• Granulated zinc contains an impurity like
copper which acts as a positive catalyst, (A
positive catalyst increases the rate of a
chemical equation). This is the reason why
granulated zinc is preferred over pure zinc for
the laboratory preparation of hydrogen gas.
LABORATORY PREPARATION OF HYDROGEN

• Metal + Dilute acid → Salt + Hydrogen

• Zn + 2HCl → ZnCl2 + H2 ↑
• Zn + H2SO4 → ZnSO4 + H2 ↑
 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF HYDROGEN

• At standard temperature and pressure,

hydrogen is a nontoxic, nonmetallic, odorless,
tasteless, colorless, and highly combustible
diatomic gas with the molecular formula H2;
• Hydrogen has a density of 0.08988 g/L,
making it less dense than air;
• Hydrogen has a melting point of -259.14 °C
and a boiling point of -252.87 °C;
 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF HYDROGEN

• The extremely low melting and boiling points

of hydrogen result from weak forces of
attraction between the molecules;
• The existence of these weak intermolecular
forces is confirmed by the fact that, when
hydrogen gas expands from high to low
pressure at room temperature, its temperature
rises, whereas the temperature of most other
gases falls.
 ISOTOPES OF HYDROGEN

– Three naturally occurring isotopes of hydrogen

exist:
– protium,
– deuterium, and
– tritium,
– each with different properties due to the difference
in the number of neutrons in the nucleus.
 CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF HYDROGEN

• Despite its stability, hydrogen forms many bonds and is

present in many different compounds.

• Hydrogen gas (H2) burns in air at a very wide

range of concentrations between 4 percent and 75
percent by volume.
• The enthalpy of combustion for hydrogen is -286
kJ/mol;
• 2 H2(g) + O2(g) --> 2 H2O(l) + 572 kJ (286 kJ/mol
 REACTIONS & COMPOUNDS

• Atomic hydrogen is very reactive;

• It combines with most elements to form
hydrides (e.g., sodium hydride, NaH);
• It reduces metallic oxides to produce the metal
in its elemental state;
• H2 reacts with oxidizing elements, which in
turn react spontaneously and violently with
chlorine and fluorine to form the
corresponding hydrogen halides.
 REACTIONS & COMPOUNDS

• It has two distinct oxidation states, (+1, -1),

which make it able to act as both an oxidizing
and a reducing agent;
• Partial positive charge when reacting with
more electronegative elements such as the
halogens or oxygen and partial negative charge
when reacting with more electropositive
elements such as the alkali metals.
 HYDRIDES

• Compounds of hydrogen with less electronegative

elements are known as hydrides;
• Hydrides are classified into three major groups,
depending on what elements the hydrogen bonds
to;
• These are covalent, ionic, and metallic hydrides;
• Hydrogen is absorbed at high temperatures by
many transition metals to form hard, alloy-like
hydrides. These are often called interstitial
hydrides .
 HYDRIDES
Examples of Ionic Hydrides:
• NaH, KH, CaH2, etc. These contain hydrogen
as the negatively charged (H–) ion.
 HYDRIDES
Covalent Hydrides
• Covalent hydrides are formed when hydrogen reacts
with other similar electronegative elements like Si, C,
etc. The most common examples are CH4 and NH3.
• Generally, compounds that are formed when hydrogen
is reacted with non-metals are called covalent hydrides.
Covalent hydrides are also either liquids or gases.
Example of Covalent Hydrides: SiH4 (silane)

• H2(g)+Cl2(g)→2HCl(g)
• 3H2(g)+N2(g)→2NH3(g)
 HYDRIDES

Metallic Hydrides
• Also known as interstitial hydrides;
• It involve hydrogen bonds with transition metals.
• These are usually formed by transition metals and
are mostly non-stoichiometric, hard, high melting
and boiling points.
Examples are:
TiH, cadmium, etc
 USES OF HYDRIDES

• They are used as reducing agents in many

chemical industries;
• Hydrides are highly significant in battery
storage technologies such as nickel hydride
batteries;
• They are used as drying agents;
• They are used as strong bases in organic
synthesis;
 USES / APPLICATIONS OF HYDROGEN

• In the hydrogenation of carbon monoxide and

organic compounds;
• For example, large amounts of hydrogen are
used in the preparation of methanol by the
reaction
CO + 2H2 → CH3OH
in the presence of certain mixed catalysts
containing zinc oxide and chromium oxide at
high temperatures and pressures
 USES / APPLICATIONS OF HYDROGEN

• The largest single use of hydrogen in the world is

in ammonia manufacture, which consumes about
two-thirds of the world’s hydrogen production;
• Ammonia is manufactured by the Haber-Bosch
process, in which hydrogen and nitrogen react in
the presence of a catalyst at pressures around 1,000
atmospheres and temperatures around 500° c:
N2 + 3H2 → 2NH3.
.
 USES / APPLICATIONS OF HYDROGEN

• Another major application of hydrogen is in

the catalytic hydrogenation of organic
compounds. Unsaturated vegetable and animal
oils and fats are hydrogenated to make
margarine and vegetable shortening;
• Hydrogen is used to reduce aldehydes, fatty
acids, and esters to the corresponding alcohols.
 USES / APPLICATIONS OF HYDROGEN

• Hydrogen has been used as a primary rocket fuel

for combustion with oxygen or fluorine and is
favoured as a propellant for nuclear-powered
rockets and space vehicles.
• Hydrogen is used in the direct reduction of iron
ores to metallic iron and in the reduction of the
oxides of tungsten and molybdenum to the metals.
• Liquid hydrogen is used in the laboratory to
produce low temperatures.