RCH2X +2Na+RCH2X------------dry ether ------->2NaCl+RCH2-RCH2

TheWurtz reaction, named after Charles AdolpheWurtz, is a couplingreactionin organic chemistry, organometallic chemistry and recently inorganic main group polymers, whereby two alkyl halides arereactedwith sodium metal in dry ether solution to form a higher alkane: 2 R–X + 2 Na → R–R + 2 Na+X.

The Wurtz reaction is a very useful reaction in the fields of organic chemistry and organometallic chemistry for the formation of alkanes. In this reaction, two different alkyl halides are coupled to yield a longeralkanechain with the help of sodium and dry ether solution.This reaction is named after the French chemist Charles Adolphe Wurtz, who also discovered the aldol reaction. Apart from sodium, metals like silver, indium, activated copper, zinc, and iron can also be used in the Wurtz reaction in order to obtain alkanes.Wurtz Reaction Equation

The general form of the Wurtz reaction equation can be written as follows:2R-X + 2Na → R-R + 2Na+X–It can be observed from this equation that the two R groups are joined, yielding an alkane with a longer chain along with NaX, where X is a Halogen.