Butanone

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Butanone

Butanone is the organic compound

Organic compound

An organic compound is any member of a large class of chemical compounds whose molecules contain carbon. For historical reasons discussed below, a few types of compounds such as carbonates, simple oxides of carbon and cyanides, as well as the allotropes of carbon, are considered Inorganic compound....
with the formula

Chemical formula

A chemical formula is a way of expressing information about the atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound, and how the relationship between those atoms changes in chemical reactions....
CH₃C(O)CH₂CH₃. This colorless liquid has a sharp, sweet odor reminiscent of butterscotch and acetone

Acetone

Acetone is the organic compound with the chemical formula OC2. This colorless, mobile, flammable liquid is the simplest example of the ketones....
. It is a ketone

Ketone

In organic chemistry, a ketone is a type of organic compound which contains a carbonyl group bonded to two other carbon atoms in the form:Neither of the substituents R1 and R2 may be equal to hydrogen ....
, better known as methyl ethyl ketone or MEK. It is produced on a large scale industrially. Butanone occurs in only trace amounts in nature.

none is produced by the dehydrogenation

Dehydrogenation

Dehydrogenation is a chemical reaction that involves the elimination of hydrogen . It is the reverse process of hydrogenation. Dehydrogenation reactions may be either large scale industrial processes or smaller scale laboratory procedures....
of 2-butanol

2-Butanol

2-Butanol, or sec-butanol, is a organic compound with chemical formula carbonhydrogenCHCH2CH3. This secondary alcohol is a flammable, colorless liquid that is soluble in 12 parts water and completely miscible with polar organic solvent such as ethers and other alcohols....
using a catalyst based on copper, zinc, or bronze

Bronze

Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive, but sometimes with other chemical element such as phosphorus, manganese, aluminium, or silicon....
:

CH₃CH(OH)CH₂CH₃ ? CH₃C(O)CH₂CH₃ + H₂

In this way, approximately 700M kg are produced yearly.

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Production

Butanone is produced by the dehydrogenation

Dehydrogenation

2-Butanol

Bronze

Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive, but sometimes with other chemical element such as phosphorus, manganese, aluminium, or silicon....
:

CH₃CH(OH)CH₂CH₃ ? CH₃C(O)CH₂CH₃ + H₂

In this way, approximately 700M kg are produced yearly. Other routes that have been examined but not implemented include Wacker oxidation of 2-butene

2-Butene

2-Butene is a Compound with formula C4H8. It is one of the isomers of butene....
and oxidation of isobutylbenzene (analogous to the industrial route to acetone

Acetone

Acetone is the organic compound with the chemical formula OC2. This colorless, mobile, flammable liquid is the simplest example of the ketones....
.

MEK is biosynthesize by some trees and found in some fruit

Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
s and vegetable

Vegetable

The term "vegetable" generally means the Eating parts of plants. The definition of the word is traditional rather than scientific, however, and therefore the usage of the word is somewhat arbitrary and subjective, as it is determined by individual cultural customs of food selection and food preparation....
s in small amounts. It is also released to the air from car

Automobile

An automobile or motor car is a wheeled motor vehicle for transportation passengers, which also carries its own car engine or motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels, and to be constructed principally f...
and truck

Truck

File:Red truck USA.JPGA truck is a type of motor vehicle commonly used for carrying goods and materials. Some light trucks are relatively small, similar in size to a passenger automobile....
exhausts.

Applications

MEK dissolves

Solvation

Solvation, commonly called dissolution, is the process of attraction and association of molecules of a solvent with molecules or ions of a solute....
many substances and is used as a solvent

Solvent

A solvent is a liquid or gas that dissolves a solid, liquid, or gaseous solute, resulting in a solution.The most common solvent in everyday life is water....
in processes involving gum

Natural gum

Natural gums are polysaccharides of natural origin, capable of causing a large viscosity increase in solution, even at small concentrations. In the food industry they are used as thickening agents, gelling agents, Emulsion and Food additive#Categoriess....
s, resin

Resin

Resin is a hydrocarbon secretion of many plants, particularly Pinophyta. It is valued for its chemical constituents and uses, such as varnishes and adhesives, as an important source of raw materials for organic synthesis, or for incense and perfume....
s, cellulose acetate

Cellulose acetate

Cellulose acetate, first prepared in 1865, is the acetate ester of cellulose. Cellulose acetate is used as a film base in photography, and as a component in some adhesives; it is also used as a synthetic fiber....
and nitrocellulose coatings and in vinyl films. For this reason it finds use in the manufacture of plastics, textiles, in the production of paraffin wax, and in household products such as lacquer

Lacquer

In a general sense, lacquer is a clear or coloured varnish that dries by solvent evaporation and often a curing process as well that produces a hard, durable finish, in any sheen level from ultra matte to high Gloss and that can be further polished as required....
, varnish

Varnish

Varnish is a Transparency , hard, protective finish or film primarily used in wood finishing but also for other materials. Varnish is traditionally a combination of a drying oil, a resin, and a Turpentine substitute or solvent....
es, paint remover, a denaturing agent for denatured alcohol, glues

Adhesive

Adhesive or glue is a compound in a liquid or semi-liquid state that adhesion or bonds items together. Adhesives may come from either natural or Chemical synthesis sources....
, and as a cleaning agent. MEK is also used in dry erase markers as the solvent of the erasable dye.

MEK is the precursor

Precursor (chemistry)

In chemistry, a precursor is a chemical compound that participates in the chemical reaction that produces another compound. In biochemistry, the term "precursor" is used more specifically to refer to a chemical compound preceding another in a metabolic pathway....
to methyl ethyl ketone peroxide

Methyl ethyl ketone peroxide

Methyl ethyl ketone peroxide is an organic peroxide, a high explosive similar to acetone peroxide. MEKP is a colorless, oily liquid whereas acetone peroxide is a white powder at Standard conditions for temperature and pressure; MEKP is slightly less sensitive to shock and temperature, and more stable in storage....
, a catalyst for some polymerization

Polymerization

In polymer chemistry, polymerization is a process of reacting monomer molecules together in a chemical reaction to form three-dimensional networks or polymer chains....
reactions.

Health effects

Butanone is an irritant

Irritation

Irritation or exacerbation, in biology and physiology, is a state of inflammation or painful reaction to allergy or cell-lining damage. A stimulus or agent which induces the state of irritation is an irritant....
, but serious health effects in animals have been seen only at very high levels. When inhaled, these effects included birth defects,

Methyl ethyl ketone is listed as a Table II precursor under the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances

United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances

The 1988 United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances is one of three major drug control treaties currently in force....
.

Butanone

Production

Applications

Health effects

External links