Methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) is the common name for the

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 ...

4-methylpentan-2-one, condensed chemical formula (CH₃)₂CHCH₂C(O)CH₃. This colourless liquid, a

ketone In organic chemistry, a ketone is a functional group with the structure R–C(=O)–R', where R and R' can be a variety of carbon-containing substituents. Ketones contain a carbonyl group –C(=O)– (which contains a carbon-oxygen double bo ...

, is used as a

solvent A solvent (s) (from the Latin '' solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas, or a supercritical fluid. Water is a solvent for ...

for gums, resins, paints, varnishes, lacquers, and nitrocellulose.

Production

At laboratory scale, MIBK can be produced via a three-step process using

acetone 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 odour. Acetone is miscib ...

as the starting material. Self-condensation, a type of

aldol reaction The aldol reaction is a means of forming carbon–carbon bonds in organic chemistry. Discovered independently by the Russian chemist Alexander Borodin in 1869 and by the French chemist Charles-Adolphe Wurtz in 1872, the reaction combines two carb ...

, produces diacetone alcohol, which readily dehydrates to give 4-methylpent-3-en-2-one (commonly, mesityl oxide). Mesityl oxide is then hydrogenated to give MIBK. : Industrially, these three steps are combined. Acetone is treated with a strongly acidic,

palladium catalyst Palladium is a chemical element with the symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself na ...

-doped

cation exchange resin An ion-exchange resin or ion-exchange polymer is a resin or polymer that acts as a medium for ion exchange. It is an insoluble matrix (or support structure) normally in the form of small (0.25–1.43 mm radius) microbeads, usually white or ye ...

under medium pressure of hydrogen. Several million kilograms are produced annually.Stylianos Sifniades, Alan B. Levy, "Acetone" in ''Ullmann’s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry'', Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2005.

Uses

MIBK is used as a solvent for

nitrocellulose Nitrocellulose (also known as cellulose nitrate, flash paper, flash cotton, guncotton, pyroxylin and flash string, depending on form) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitric acid and ...

, lacquers, and certain polymers and resins.

Precursor to 6PPD

Another major use is as a precursor to ''N''-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-''N-phenyl-''p''-phenylene diamine (

6PPD 6PPD is an organic chemical widely used as stabilising additive (or antidegradant) in rubbers, such as NR, SBR and BR; all of which are common in vehicle tires. Although it is an effective antioxidant it is primarily used because of its excell ...

), an antiozonant used in tires. 6PPD is prepared by reductive coupling of MIBK with 4-aminodiphenylamine.

Solvent and niche applications

Unlike the other common ketone solvents,

and MEK, MIBK has quite low solubility in water, making it useful for liquid-liquid extraction. It has a similar

polarity Polarity may refer to: Science *Electrical polarity, direction of electrical current *Polarity (mutual inductance), the relationship between components such as transformer windings * Polarity (projective geometry), in mathematics, a duality of ord ...

to ethyl acetate, but greater stability towards aqueous

acid In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...

and base. It can be used to extract gold, silver and other precious metals from

cyanide Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms. In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of ...

solutions, such as those found at gold mines, to determine the levels of those dissolved metals.

Diisobutyl ketone 2,5-Dimethylhexane is a branched alkane used in the aviation industry in low revolutions per minute helicopters. As an isomer of octane, the boiling point is very close to that of octane, but can in pure form be slightly lower. 2,5-Dimethylhexane ...

(DIBK), a related lipophilic ketone, is also used for this purpose. Methyl isobutyl ketone is also used as a denaturing agent for denatured alcohol. When mixed with water or isopropyl alcohol MIBK serves as a

developer Developer may refer to: Computers *Software developer, a person or organization who develop programs/applications *Video game developer, a person or business involved in video game development, the process of designing and creating games *Web deve ...

for

PMMA PMMA may refer to: * para-Methoxymethamphetamine, a stimulant drug * Philippine Merchant Marine Academy The Philippine Merchant Marine Academy ( fil, Akademiya sa Bapor Pangkalakalan ng Pilipinas) also referred to by its acronym PMMA) is a ma ...

electron beam lithography Electron-beam lithography (often abbreviated as e-beam lithography, EBL) is the practice of scanning a focused beam of electrons to draw custom shapes on a surface covered with an electron-sensitive film called a resist (exposing). The electron b ...

resist. MIBK is used as a solvent for CS in the preparation of the CS spray used currently by American and British police forces.

References

External links

International Chemical Safety Card 0511

* ttps://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg/npgd0326.html NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards {{Authority control Hazardous air pollutants Hexanones Ketone solvents Commodity chemicals IARC Group 2B carcinogens