What hydrocarbon is formed when the sodium salt of acetic acid (CH3COOH) is fused with sodium hydroxide?

When various salts of monocarboxylic acids are fused with the corresponding alkali metal hydroxides, this salt is decarboxylated (that is, the COO group is cleaved off), which forms the basis of the laboratory method for obtaining saturated hydrocarbons (alkanes). When drawing up the equation, it should be borne in mind that the resulting hydrocarbon will have one carbon atom less than in the given acid.

For example, let’s get benzene (the ancestor of aromatic hydrocarbons) using benzoic acid:

С6H5COONa + NaOH = C6H6 + Na2CO3.

When sodium acetate is fused with soda lime, methane (the ancestor of the homologous series of alkanes) and sodium carbonate are respectively formed:

CH3COONa + NAOH = CH4 + Na2CO3.