hydroxyacetonitrile
Sign in to saveAlso known as Cyanomethanol, Formaldehyde cyanohydrin, Glycolic nitrile, Glyconitrile, Glycolonitrile
Glycolonitrile, also called hydroxyacetonitrile or formaldehyde cyanohydrin, is the organic compound with the structure HOCH2CN. It is the simplest cyanohydrin, being derived from formaldehyde. It is a colourless liquid that dissolves in water and ether, and is useful in production of several industrially important chemicals. Because glycolonitrile decomposes readily into formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide, it is listed as an extremely hazardous substance. In January 2019, astronomers reported the detection of glycolonitrile, another possible building block of life among other such molecules, i
Wikidata facts
- Subclass of
- nitrile
- Mass
- 57.021
Show 10 more facts
- chemical formula
- C₂H₃NO
- Commons category
- Glycolonitrile
- NIOSH Pocket Guide ID
- 0304
- density
- 1.10
- melting point
- -98
- decomposition point
- 361
- vapor pressure
- 1
- ceiling exposure limit
- 5
- canonical SMILES
- C(C#N)O
- has characteristic
- flammable liquid
Sources (3)
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Encyclopedic overview
3 sectionsContents
- Synthesis and reactions
- Reactivity
- References
Glycolonitrile, also called hydroxyacetonitrile or formaldehyde cyanohydrin, is the organic compound with the structure HOCH2CN. It is the simplest cyanohydrin, being derived from formaldehyde. It is a colourless liquid that dissolves in water and ether, and is useful in production of several industrially important chemicals. Because glycolonitrile decomposes readily into formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide, it is listed as an extremely hazardous substance. In January 2019, astronomers reported the detection of glycolonitrile, another possible building block of life among other such molecules, in outer space.
==Synthesis and reactions== Glycolonitrile is produced by combining formaldehyde with hydrogen cyanide at near-neutral pH. The reaction is catalyzed by base. Glycolonitrile polymerizes under alkaline conditions.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “hydroxyacetonitrile” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.