Acetolactone (α-acetolactone) is an
organic compound with formula . It is the smallest member of the
lactone family but can also be described as the epoxide of
ethenone. The compound was described in 1997 as a transient species in
mass spectrometry
Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique that is used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of ions. The results are presented as a ''mass spectrum'', a plot of intensity as a function of the mass-to-charge ratio. Mass spectrometry is use ...
experiments.
Although acetolactone itself has not been isolated in bulk, the related species bis(trifluoromethyl)acetolactone ((), which has increased electronic stabilisation due to its two
trifluoromethyl groups, is known and has a half-life of 8 hours at 25 °C. This compound is prepared by
photolysis
Photodissociation, photolysis, photodecomposition, or photofragmentation is a chemical reaction in which molecules of a chemical compound are broken down by photons. It is defined as the interaction of one or more photons with one target molecule. ...
of bis(trifluoromethyl)malonyl peroxide.
[Waldemar Adam, Ju-Chao Liu, Oswaldo Rodriguez (1973), ''Bis(trifluoromethyl)acetolactone, a Stable α-Lactone''. J. Org. Chem., volume 38, pages 2269–2270 ]
See also
*
α-Propiolactone
Methyloxiranone or α-propiolactone is a chemical compound of the lactone
Lactones are cyclic carboxylic esters, containing a 1-oxacycloalkan-2-one structure (), or analogues having unsaturation or heteroatoms replacing one or more carbon atoms ...
*
Oxalic anhydride
References
Alpha-lactones
Substances discovered in the 1990s
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