Talk:Ethylene chloride

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Entire content of this page is wrong![edit]

Ethylene chloride is the old name for 1,2-dichloroethane, just like muriatic acid is the old name for hydrochloric acid. It was called ethylene chloride because it is the product of ethylene and chlorine, just like e.g. silver chloride is the product of silver and chlorine. In this sense "ethylene dichloride" is an ungainly (I would even say internally contradictory) name that should not really be used -- it is either ethylene chloride (old name), or dichloroethane (contemporary name). No one to my knowledge has ever, or would ever, apply the name ethylene chloride to vinyl chloride.

So this article should simply explain the archaic term, and direct readers to 1,2-dichloroethane.Ajrocke (talk) 20:40, 20 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]

OK, a web search has shown me that "ethylene dichloride" is now a common and accepted name for this compound. This shows that my chemical education, although quite thorough, is old (1960s and early 1970s). There is no question in my mind that 50 years ago, or even 40, this term was not in use. But my other comments are still pertinent: ethylene chloride is an old name for 1,2-dichloroethane (it used to be the only common name); and "ethylene chloride" is never applied to vinyl chloride. So I think this page still needs changing.Ajrocke (talk) 21:06, 21 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]