Acetylene or ethyne is a non-saturated hydrocarbon contains 2 carbon and 2 hydrogen atoms. This chemical is mostly used for the chemical intermediate or reagent to produce other sintezed chemicals. Acetylene has C-C bond distance of 1.2024 angstrom and C-H distance of 1.0625 angstrom [1]. I will not talk much about the property of this molecule as it is already described well in all organic handbook. But I want to write something that probably you don’t know about the story behind it.
Acetylene was found by Edmund Davy in 1836. It was an accidental when he found it. Even after that, people forgot about what he was discoved already. At that time, he wanted to isolate potassium metal from potasium carbonate by burning it in high temperature. Then, it produced K2C2 which reacts easily with water and produce ‘new’ gas. He wrote a paper and distinguish this gas as useful gas for illuminating gas. Fortunately, in 1860, this gas was rediscovered by a France guy, Marcellin Barthelot, and named as acetylene and used until now. As he was a famous guy, when he died, he and his wife were burried in a Pantheon (temple of God) in Paris.
You have be careful with this gas as this gas is explosive. It was an accident that Gustaf Dalen has sacrifice his eyes (to be blinded) by acetylene explosion. He got a nobel price winner in 1912 but not due to this accident. He won because of his concept about gas accumulator used in lighthouses and cooking system. However, he could not receive the price directly due to his health and during the ceremony speech (his brother did it), he mentioned about the safety of experiment. The thing that similar to the ‘idea’ of nobel price founder, Alfred Nobel. Alfred Nobel found the dynamit but his younger brother was died because of its explosion.
References:
[1] Kostyk, E., Welsh, H. L., Can. J. Phys. 58, 912 (1980)
