but-2-ene
Sign in to saveAlso known as beta-butene, 2-butene, beta-butylene, pseudobutylene
2-Butene is an acyclic alkene with four carbon atoms. It is the simplest alkene exhibiting cis/trans-isomerism (also known as (E/Z)-isomerism); that is, it exists as two geometric isomers cis-2-butene ((Z)-but-2-ene) and trans-2-butene ((E)-but-2-ene).
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2-Butene is an acyclic alkene with four carbon atoms. It is the simplest alkene exhibiting cis/trans-isomerism (also known as (E/Z)-isomerism); that is, it exists as two geometric isomers cis-2-butene ((Z)-but-2-ene) and trans-2-butene ((E)-but-2-ene).
It is a petrochemical, produced by the catalytic cracking of crude oil or the dimerization of ethylene. Its main uses are in the production of high-octane gasoline (petrol) on alkylation units and butadiene, although some 2-butene is also used to produce the solvent butanone via hydration reaction to 2-butanol followed by oxidation.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “but-2-ene” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.