Acrolein (systematic name: propenal) is the simplest unsaturated aldehyde. It is a colorless liquid with a piercing, acrid smell. 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 propylene and mainly used as a biocide and a building block to other chemical compounds, such as the amino acid methionine.
Acrolein is a clear, colorless, or yellow liquid with a pungent, suffocating odor. It is very flammable and may polymerize violently. Acrolein should be stored in a cool, dry, well-ventilated area in tightly sealed containers separated from alkaline materials such as caustics, ammonia, organic amines, or mineral acids, strong oxidizers, and oxygen. Acrolein is soluble in water, alcohol, ether, and acetone.
Acrolein is produced by oxidation of propylene.
Acrolein is principally used as a biocide to control plants, algae, molluscs, fungi, rodents, and microorganisms. Acrolein has also been used in the manufacture of other chemicals, as a warning agent in gases, as a test gas for gas masks, in military poison gases, in the manufacture of colloidal metals, in leather tanning, and as a fixative in histology.
Description : Clear, colorless to yellow liquid
Warning properties : Suffocating, pungent odor at 0.16 ppm
Molecular weight : 56.06 daltons
Boiling point (760 mm Hg): 126.5°F (52.5°C)
Freezing point : -126°F (-88.0°C)
Vapor pressure : 210 mm Hg at 68°F (20°C)
Gas density : 1.94 (air = 1)
Specific gravity : 0.84 (water = 1)
Water solubility : 208 g/L at 20°C
Flash point : -15°F (-26.1°C)
Flammable range : 2.8% to 31% (concentration in air)
