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. Th ...
with the chemical formula CH(CH). Classified as an
aromatic hydrocarbon, 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 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 crude ...
(about 3%). It is one of the three
isomers of
trimethylbenzene.
Production
Industrially, it is isolated from the C
aromatic hydrocarbon fraction during
petroleum distillation. 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 ca ...
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, 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.
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 in particle physics experiments such as
NOνA and
Borexino.
See also
*
Cumene
References
External links
EPA Chemical Fact Sheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trimethylbenzene, 1, 2, 4-
Alkylbenzenes
C3-Benzenes