Courses
Courses for Kids
Free study material
Offline Centres
More
Store Icon
Store
seo-qna
SearchIcon
banner

TEL, tetraethyl lead, acts as an anti-knocking agent. It acts as:
A.Negative catalyst
B.Catalyst
C.Electrophile
D.Nucleophile

Answer
VerifiedVerified
574.5k+ views
Hint: We have to know that tetraethyl lead is an example of organolead compound. The chemical formula of TEL is ${\left( {C{H_3}C{H_2}} \right)_4}Pb.$ we can write the IUPAC name of TEL as Tetraethylplumbane. It appears as colourless liquid and has pleasant and sweet odour.

Complete step by step answer:
We can synthesize TEL from chloroethane and sodium-lead alloy. We can write the chemical equation is,
$4NaPb + 4C{H_3}C{H_2}Cl\xrightarrow{{}}{\left( {C{H_3}C{H_2}} \right)_4}Pb + 4NaCl + 3Pb$
We can obtain the product TEL by steam distillation, the byproducts obtained are lead and sodium chloride.
We have to know that TEL is viscous liquid. The charge on TEL is neutral and comprises exterior alkyl groups, due to which it is highly lipophilic and is soluble in gasoline.
We can draw the structure of TEL as,
seo images

We can see that a single atom of lead is linked to four ethyl groups through an atom a carbon. It adopts a tetrahedral structure.
When we inhale or absorb TEL through the skin, it could cause acute (or) chronic lead poisoning. A few other names of tetraethyl lead are lead tetraethyl, tetra-ethyl lead.
Tetraethyl lead is insoluble in water and has flash point of ${163^ \circ }F.$ The density of TEL is $14\,lb/gal.$
TEL functions as a negative catalyst. Anti-knocking substance is added to petrol to reduce the ignition of vapors of petrol is TEL.
Hence, the correct option is option A.

Note:
We know that TEL is a petrol-fuel additive that was first mixed with gasoline. Countries such as Algeria, Iraq and Yemen use leaded engine gasoline for automobiles. Some of the related compounds to tetraethyl lead are tetraethyl methane, tetraethyl tin and tetramethyl germanium.