1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene, also known as pseudocumene, is an

organic compound In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. The ...

with the chemical formula CH(CH). Classified as an

aromatic hydrocarbon Aromatic compounds, also known as "mono- and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons", are organic compounds containing one or more aromatic rings. The parent member of aromatic compounds is benzene. The word "aromatic" originates from the past grouping ...

, it is a flammable colorless liquid with a strong odor. It is nearly insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents. It occurs naturally in

coal tar Coal tar is a thick dark liquid which is a by-product of the production of coke and coal gas from coal. It is a type of creosote. It has both medical and industrial uses. Medicinally it is a topical medication applied to skin to treat psoriasi ...

and

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

(about 3%). It is one of the three

isomers In chemistry, isomers are molecules or polyatomic ions with identical molecular formulae – that is, same number of atoms of each element – but distinct arrangements of atoms in space. Isomerism is existence or possibility of isomers. Iso ...

trimethylbenzene The trimethylbenzenes constitute a group of substances of aromatic hydrocarbons, which structure consists of a benzene ring with three methyl groups (–CH3) as a substituent. Through their different arrangement, they form three structural iso ...

Production

Industrially, it is isolated from the C

fraction during

petroleum distillation An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, liquefie ...

. Approximately 40% of this fraction is 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene. It is also generated by methylation of toluene and xylenes and the

disproportionation In chemistry, disproportionation, sometimes called dismutation, is a redox reaction in which one compound of intermediate oxidation state converts to two compounds, one of higher and one of lower oxidation states. More generally, the term can b ...

of xylene over aluminosilicate catalysts.Karl Griesbaum, Arno Behr, Dieter Biedenkapp, Heinz-Werner Voges, Dorothea Garbe, Christian Paetz, Gerd Collin, Dieter Mayer, Hartmut Höke "Hydrocarbons" in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry 2002 Wiley-VCH, Weinheim.

Uses

Pseudocumene is a precursor to

mellitic anhydride Mellitic anhydride, the anhydride of mellitic acid, is an organic compound with the formula C12O9. Containing no other elements (e.g., hydrogen) besides carbon and oxygen, mellitic anhydride is an oxide of carbon (oxocarbon), and, along with CO2 ...

, from which high performance polymers are made. It is also used as a sterilizing agent and in the making of dyes, perfumes and resins. Another use is as a

gasoline additive Petrol additives increase petrol's octane rating or act as corrosion inhibitors or lubricants, thus allowing the use of higher compression ratios for greater efficiency and power. Types of additives include metal deactivators, corrosion inhibitors, ...

Scintillator

1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene dissolved in

mineral oil Mineral oil is any of various colorless, odorless, light mixtures of higher alkanes from a mineral source, particularly a distillate of petroleum, as distinct from usually edible vegetable oils. The name 'mineral oil' by itself is imprecise, ...

is used as a liquid

scintillator A scintillator is a material that exhibits scintillation, the property of luminescence, when excited by ionizing radiation. Luminescent materials, when struck by an incoming particle, absorb its energy and scintillate (i.e. re-emit the absorbed ...

in particle physics experiments such as

NOνA A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramat ...

and

Borexino Borexino is a particle physics experiment to study low energy (sub-MeV) solar neutrinos. The detector is the world's most radio-pure liquid scintillator calorimeter. It is placed within a stainless steel sphere which holds the photomultiplier t ...

References

External links

EPA Chemical Fact Sheet

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trimethylbenzene, 1, 2, 4- Alkylbenzenes C3-Benzenes

Production

Uses

Scintillator

See also

References

External links