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Concept
Acetone
Summary
Acetone (2-propanone or dimethyl ketone), is an organic compound with the formula . It is the simplest and smallest ketone (). It is a colorless, highly volatile and flammable liquid with a characteristic pungent odor.
Acetone is miscible with water and serves as an important organic solvent in industry, home, and laboratory. About 6.7 million tonnes were produced worldwide in 2010, mainly for use as a solvent and for production of methyl methacrylate and bisphenol A, which are precursors to widely-used plastics. It is a common building block in organic chemistry. It serves as a solvent in household products such as nail polish remover and paint thinner. It has volatile organic compound (VOC)-exempt status in the United States.
Acetone is produced and disposed of in the human body through normal metabolic processes. It is normally present in blood and urine. People with diabetic ketoacidosis produce it in larger amounts. Ketogenic diets that increase ketone bodies (acetone, β-hydroxybutyric acid and acetoacetic acid) in the blood are used to counter epileptic attacks in children who suffer from refractory epilepsy.
Before the developments in organic chemistry nomenclature, acetone was given many different names since the 17th century. The names include spirit of Saturn, which was given when it was thought to be a compound of lead, and later pyro-acetic spirit and pyro-acetic ester.
Prior to the "acetone" name given by Antoine Bussy, it was named "mesit" (from the Greek μεσίτης, meaning mediator) by Carl Reichenbach who also claimed that methyl alcohol consisted of mesit and ethyl alcohol. Names derived from mesit include mesitylene and mesityl oxide which were first synthesised from acetone.
Unlike many compounds with the acet- prefix having a 2-carbon chain, acetone has a 3-carbon chain which has caused confusion since there cannot be a ketone with 2 carbons. The prefix refers to acetone's relation to vinegar (acetum in Latin, also the source of the words "acid" and "acetic"), rather than its chemical structure.
Official source
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