Consider the free-radical reaction to chlorinate methane to produce chloromethane. Cl2 + CH4 = HCl + CH3Cl. These are not the only products because a great variety of radical collisions are possible other than those leading to the simple idealized products. Your text notes the production of dichloromethane, trichloromethane, and tetrachloromethane. Show a complete mechanism, including the initiation step, to explain how 1,2-dichloroethane, a minor but detectable product in this reaction, could be produced. Use chain propagation steps whenever possible, although a key step in the mechanism has to be what is usually regarded as a termination step.
Chlorine reacts with methane to produce chloromethane and hydrogen chloride. This is not the only possible product because a great variety of different radical collisions are possible other than those leading to simple idealized products. For instance, dichloromethane, trichloromethane, and tetrachloromethane are produced in smaller amounts than the major product....