Acetylene of 180°. Acetylene was discovered in 1836 by Edmund Davy, who identified it as a "new carburet of hydrogen". It was rediscovered in 1860 by French chemist Marcellin Berthelot, who coined the name "acétylène". Berthelot's empirical formula for acetylene (CH), as well as the alternative name "quadricarbure d'hydrogène" ("hydrogen quadricarbide"), were incorrect because chemists at that time used the wrong atomic mass for carbon (6 instead of 12). Berthelot was able to prepare this gas by passing vapours of organic compounds (methanol, ethanol, etc.) through a red-hot tube and collecting the effluent. He also found that acetylene was formed by
Acetylene due to a poor solubility equilibrium. Walter Reppe discovered that in the presence of metal catalysts, acetylene can react to give a wide range of industrially significant chemicals. Approximately 20% of acetylene is supplied by the industrial gases industry for oxyacetylene gas welding and cutting due to the high temperature of the flame. Combustion of acetylene with oxygen produces a flame of over , releasing 11.8 kJ/g. Oxyacetylene is the hottest burning common fuel gas. Acetylene is the third-hottest natural chemical flame after dicyanoacetylene's and cyanogen at . Oxy-acetylene welding was a popular welding process in previous decades. The development