Mesitylene or
1,3,5-trimethylbenzene (C
9H
12) is an
aromatic hydrocarbonAn aromatic hydrocarbon or arene is a hydrocarbon, of which the molecular structure incorporates one or more planar sets of six carbon atoms that are connected by delocalised electrons numbering the same as if they consisted of alternating single and double covalent bonds...
with three methyl
substituentIn organic chemistry and biochemistry, a substituent is an atom or group of atoms substituted in place of a hydrogen atom on the parent chain of a hydrocarbon...
s attached to the
benzeneBenzene, or benzol, is an organic chemical compound with the molecular formula C6H6. It is sometimes abbreviated Ph–H. Benzene is a colorless and highly flammable liquid with a sweet smell and a relatively high melting point...
ring. It is prepared by
distillationDistillation is a method of separating mixtures based on differences in their volatilities in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....
of
acetoneAcetone is the organic compound with the formula OC2. This colorless, mobile, flammable liquid is the simplest example of the ketones. Owing to the fact that acetone is miscible with water it serves as an important solvent in its own right, typically as the solvent of choice for...
with
sulfuric acidSulfuric acid, , is a strong mineral acid. It is soluble in water at all concentrations. Sulfuric acid has many applications, and is one of the top products of the chemical industry. World production in 2001 was 165 million tonnes, with an approximate value of US$8 billion...
or by trimerization of propyne in sulfuric acid, which, in both cases, acts as a catalyst and
dehydratingIn chemistry, a dehydration reaction is usually defined as a chemical reaction that involves the loss of water from the reacting molecule. Dehydration reactions are a subset of elimination reactions...
agent. It is commonly used as a
solventA solvent is a liquid, solid, or gas that dissolves another solid, liquid, or gaseous solute, resulting in a solution.The most common solvent in everyday life is water. Most other commonly-used solvents are organic chemicals. These are called organic solvents...
in
researchResearch can be defined to be search for knowledge or any systematic investigation to establish facts. The primary purpose for applied research is discovering, interpreting, and the development of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge on a wide variety of scientific matters of...
and
industryAn industry is the manufacturing of a good or service within a category. Although industry is a broad term for any kind of economic production, in economics and urban planning industry is a synonym for the secondary sector, which is a type of economic activity involved in the manufacturing of raw...
. It is flammable and an
irritantIrritant may refer to:* Something that causes irritation.* Irritant , a psychedelic trance album* Irritant , a United Kingdom rock musical group* Irritant , a stimulus or agent which induces the state of irritation...
; it is a low-freezing liquid.
In the electronics industry, mesitylene has also been used as a
developerIn the processing of photographic films, plates or papers, the photographic developer is a chemical that makes the latent image on the film or print visible. It does this by reducing the silver halides that have been exposed to light to elemental silver in the gelatine matrix...
for photopatternable
siliconeSilicones are largely inert, man-made compounds with a wide variety of forms and uses. Typically heat-resistant, nonstick, and rubber-like, they are commonly used in cookware, medical applications, sealants, adhesives, lubricants, insulation, and breast implants.Silicones are polymers that include...
s due to its solvent properties.
1,3,5-Trimethylbenzene is also a major urban
volatile organic compoundVolatile organic compounds areorganic chemical compounds that have highenough vapor pressures under normal conditions to significantlyvaporize and enter the atmosphere.Volatile organic compounds are numerous and varied...
(VOC) which results from
combustionCombustion or burning is a complex sequence of exothermic chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat or both heat and light in the form of either a glow or flames, appearance of light flickering.Direct combustion by atmospheric oxygen is a reaction...
.
Mesitylene or
1,3,5-trimethylbenzene (C
9H
12) is an
aromatic hydrocarbonAn aromatic hydrocarbon or arene is a hydrocarbon, of which the molecular structure incorporates one or more planar sets of six carbon atoms that are connected by delocalised electrons numbering the same as if they consisted of alternating single and double covalent bonds...
with three methyl
substituentIn organic chemistry and biochemistry, a substituent is an atom or group of atoms substituted in place of a hydrogen atom on the parent chain of a hydrocarbon...
s attached to the
benzeneBenzene, or benzol, is an organic chemical compound with the molecular formula C6H6. It is sometimes abbreviated Ph–H. Benzene is a colorless and highly flammable liquid with a sweet smell and a relatively high melting point...
ring. It is prepared by
distillationDistillation is a method of separating mixtures based on differences in their volatilities in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....
of
acetoneAcetone is the organic compound with the formula OC2. This colorless, mobile, flammable liquid is the simplest example of the ketones. Owing to the fact that acetone is miscible with water it serves as an important solvent in its own right, typically as the solvent of choice for...
with
sulfuric acidSulfuric acid, , is a strong mineral acid. It is soluble in water at all concentrations. Sulfuric acid has many applications, and is one of the top products of the chemical industry. World production in 2001 was 165 million tonnes, with an approximate value of US$8 billion...
or by trimerization of propyne in sulfuric acid, which, in both cases, acts as a catalyst and
dehydratingIn chemistry, a dehydration reaction is usually defined as a chemical reaction that involves the loss of water from the reacting molecule. Dehydration reactions are a subset of elimination reactions...
agent. It is commonly used as a
solventA solvent is a liquid, solid, or gas that dissolves another solid, liquid, or gaseous solute, resulting in a solution.The most common solvent in everyday life is water. Most other commonly-used solvents are organic chemicals. These are called organic solvents...
in
researchResearch can be defined to be search for knowledge or any systematic investigation to establish facts. The primary purpose for applied research is discovering, interpreting, and the development of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge on a wide variety of scientific matters of...
and
industryAn industry is the manufacturing of a good or service within a category. Although industry is a broad term for any kind of economic production, in economics and urban planning industry is a synonym for the secondary sector, which is a type of economic activity involved in the manufacturing of raw...
. It is flammable and an
irritantIrritant may refer to:* Something that causes irritation.* Irritant , a psychedelic trance album* Irritant , a United Kingdom rock musical group* Irritant , a stimulus or agent which induces the state of irritation...
; it is a low-freezing liquid.
In the electronics industry, mesitylene has also been used as a
developerIn the processing of photographic films, plates or papers, the photographic developer is a chemical that makes the latent image on the film or print visible. It does this by reducing the silver halides that have been exposed to light to elemental silver in the gelatine matrix...
for photopatternable
siliconeSilicones are largely inert, man-made compounds with a wide variety of forms and uses. Typically heat-resistant, nonstick, and rubber-like, they are commonly used in cookware, medical applications, sealants, adhesives, lubricants, insulation, and breast implants.Silicones are polymers that include...
s due to its solvent properties.
1,3,5-Trimethylbenzene is also a major urban
volatile organic compoundVolatile organic compounds areorganic chemical compounds that have highenough vapor pressures under normal conditions to significantlyvaporize and enter the atmosphere.Volatile organic compounds are numerous and varied...
(VOC) which results from
combustionCombustion or burning is a complex sequence of exothermic chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat or both heat and light in the form of either a glow or flames, appearance of light flickering.Direct combustion by atmospheric oxygen is a reaction...
. It plays a significant role in aerosol and
tropospheric ozoneOzone is a constituent of the troposphere . Photochemical and chemical reactions involving it drive many of the chemical processes that occur in the atmosphere by day and by night...
formation as well as other reactions in
atmospheric chemistryAtmospheric chemistry is a branch of atmospheric science in which the chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere and that of other planets is studied. It is a multidisciplinary field of research and draws on environmental chemistry, physics, meteorology, computer modeling, oceanography, geology and...
.
The
mesityl group (Mes) is a
functional groupIn organic chemistry, functional groups are specific groups of atoms within molecules that are responsible for the characteristic chemical reactions of those molecules. The same functional group will undergo the same or similar chemical reaction regardless of the size of the molecule it is a part...
found as an attachment in many organic compounds.
The three aromatic hydrogen atoms of mesitylene are in identical chemical shift environments. Therefore, they only give a single peak, with an integration of 3, near 6.8 ppm in the 1H NMR spectrum. For this reason, mesitylene is sometimes used as an
internal standardAn internal standard in analytical chemistry is a chemical substance that is added in a constant amount to samples, the blank and calibration standards in a chemical analysis. This substance can then be used for calibration by plotting the ratio of the analyte signal to the internal standard signal...
in NMR samples that contain aromatic protons.
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