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acrolein

File:Acrolein-s-trans-2D-w.png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

EntityQ342790· pop 49· linked from 771 articles

Also known as Slimicide, Crolean, Acquinite, trans-Acrolein Formylethylene, Propylene aldehyde, Propenaldehyde, Magnacide H, Allyl aldehyde

Acrolein (systematic name: propenal) is the simplest unsaturated aldehyde. It is a colorless liquid with a foul and acrid aroma. The smell of burnt fat (as when cooking oil is heated to its smoke point) is caused by glycerol in the burning fat breaking down into acrolein. It is produced industrially from propene and mainly used as a biocide and a building block to other chemical compounds, such as the amino acid methionine.

Chemical data

Formula
C3H4O
Molecular weight
56.06 g/mol
IUPAC name
prop-2-enal
SMILES
C=CC=O
InChIKey
HGINCPLSRVDWNT-UHFFFAOYSA-N
XLogP
0
Polar surface area
17.1 Ų
H-bond donors
0
H-bond acceptors
1
Formal charge
0

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Research

6,230 papers

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Wikidata facts

Mass
56.026215
Autonomy
234
Show 19 more facts
lower flammable limit
2.8
Commons category
Acrolein
vapor pressure
210
canonical SMILES
C=CC=O
flash point
-15
chemical formula
C₃H₄O
solubility
40
NIOSH Pocket Guide ID
0011
density
1.9
immediately dangerous to life or health
4.58
melting point
-87.7
boiling point
52.69
upper flammable limit
31
ionization energy
10.10
time-weighted average exposure limit
0.2
short-term exposure limit
0.5
minimal lethal dose
674
median lethal dose (LD50)
375
electric dipole moment
3.12
Sources (7)

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~7 min read

Article

14 sections
Contents
  • History
  • Production
  • Niche or laboratory methods
  • Reactions
  • Uses
  • Military uses
  • Biocide
  • Chemical precursor
  • Health risks
  • Cigarette smoke
  • Chemotherapy metabolite
  • Endogenous production
  • Analytical methods
  • References

Acrolein (systematic name: propenal) is the simplest unsaturated aldehyde. It is a colorless liquid with a foul and acrid aroma. The smell of burnt fat (as when cooking oil is heated to its smoke point) is caused by glycerol in the burning fat breaking down into acrolein. It is produced industrially from propene and mainly used as a biocide and a building block to other chemical compounds, such as the amino acid methionine.

==History== Acrolein was first named and characterized as an aldehyde by the Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius in 1839. He had been working with it as a thermal degradation product of glycerol, a material used in the manufacture of soap. The name is a contraction of 'acrid' (referring to its pungent smell) and 'oleum' (referring to its oil-like consistency). In the 20th century, acrolein became an important intermediate for the industrial production of acrylic acid and acrylic plastics.

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