Mesitylene

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{{#if:120.19 g/molC9H120.8637 g/cm³ at 20 °C-44.8 °C164.7 °C|! style="background: #F8EABA; text-align: center;" colspan="2" | Properties
Mesitylene
Mesitylene Mesitylene
IUPAC name

1,3,5-Trimethylbenzene

Other names

Mesitylene
sym-Trimethylbenzene

Identifiers
CAS number 108-67-8 7pxY
PubChem 7947
ChemSpider 7659 7pxY
EC number 203-604-4
KEGG C14508 7pxY
ChEBI CHEBI:34833 7pxY
Jmol-3D images Image 1
Molecular formula C9H12
Molar mass 120.19 g/mol
Density 0.8637 g/cm³ at 20 °C
Melting point

-44.8 °C

Boiling point

164.7 °C

Hazards
MSDS Safety data from Oxford University[dead link]






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Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C, 100 kPa)
Infobox references

Mesitylene or 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene is a derivative of benzene with three methyl substituents symmetrically placed on the ring. Isomeric trimethylbenzenes include hemimellitene (1,2,3-trimethylbenzene) and pseudocumene (1,2,4-trimethylbenzene). All three compounds have the formula C6H3(CH3)3, which is commonly abbreviated C6H3Me3. Mesitylene is a colourless liquid with sweet aromatic odor. It is a component of coal tar, which is its traditional source. It is a precursor to diverse fine chemicals. The mesityl group (Mes) is a substituent with the formula C6H2Me3.[1]

Preparation

Mesitylene is prepared by alkylation or equilibration or methylation of xylene over solid acid catalyst:[1]

2 C6H4(CH3)2 \(\overrightarrow{\leftarrow}\) C6H3(CH3)3 + C6H5CH3
C6H4(CH3)2 + CH3OH → C6H3(CH3)3 + H2O

In the laboratory, it can be prepared by distillation of acetone with sulfuric acid catalyst.. Trimerization of propyne, also requiring a catalyst, affords a mixture of mesitylene and pseudocumene.

Reactions

Oxidation of mesitylene with nitric acid affords trimesic acid ( C6H3(CO2H)3). Using the milder oxidant manganese dioxide, one obtains 3,5- dimethylbenzaldehyde. With metal centers it functions as a ligand, one example being (η5-C6H3Me3)Mo(CO)3.[2]

Applications

Laboratory uses

It is commonly used as a solvent in the laboratory. It serves as a ligand in organometallic chemistry, one example being (η5-C6H3Me3)Mo(CO)3.

In the electronics industry, mesitylene has also been used as a developer for photopatternable silicones due to its solvent properties.

1,3,5-Trimethylbenzene is also a major urban volatile organic compound (VOC) which results from combustion. It plays a significant role in aerosol and tropospheric ozone formation as well as other reactions in atmospheric chemistry.


The three aromatic hydrogen atoms of mesitylene are in identical chemical shift environments. Therefore, they only give a single peak near 6.8 ppm in the 1H NMR spectrum. For this reason, mesitylene is sometimes used as an internal standard in NMR samples that contain aromatic protons.[3]

History

Mesitylene was first prepared in 1837 by Robert Kane, an Irish chemist, by heating acetone with concentrated sulfuric acid.[4] He named his new substance "mesitylene" because the German chemist Carl Reichenbach had named acetone "mesit" (from the Greek μεσίτης, the mediator),[5] and Kane believed that his reaction had dehydrated mesit, converting it to an alkene, "mesitylene".[6] However, Kane's determination of the chemical composition ("empirical formula") of mesitylene was incorrect. The correct empirical formula was provided by August W. von Hofmann in 1849.[7] In 1866 Adolf von Baeyer showed that mesitylene's structure was consistent with that of 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene;[8] however, conclusive proof that mesitylene was identical to 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene was provided by Albert Ladenburg in 1874.[9]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 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. doi:10.1002/14356007.a13_227
  2. ↑ Girolami, G. S.; Rauchfuss, T. B. and Angelici, R. J., Synthesis and Technique in Inorganic Chemistry, University Science Books: Mill Valley, CA, 1999.ISBN: 0935702482
  3. ↑ http://chemicalland21.com/industrialchem/organic/MESITYLENE.htm
  4. ↑ Robert Kane (1839) "On a series of combinations derived from pyroacetic spirit [acetone]" Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. 18, pages 99-125.
  5. ↑ Reichenbach's research is excerpted in: C. Reichenbach (1834) "Ueber Mesit (Essiggeist) und Holzgeist" (On mesit (spirit of vinegar) and wood spirits), Annalen der Pharmacie, vol. 10, no. 3, pages 298-314.
  6. ↑ For an explanation of the original of the name "mesitylene", see also: Henry E. Roscoe, A Treatise on Chemistry (New York, New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1889), vol. III, page 102, footnote 2.
  7. ↑ A.W. Hofmann (1849) "On the composition of mesitilole [mesitylene], and some of its derivatives", The Quarterly Journal of the Chemical Society of London, vol. 2, pages 104-115. (Note: The empirical formula of mesitylene as stated in Hofmann's paper ( C18H12 ) is incorrect; however, this happened because Hofmann used 6 as the atomic weight of carbon, instead of the correct atomic weight of 12. Once the correct atomic weight is used in Hofmann's calculations, his results give the correct empirical formula of C9H12 .)
  8. ↑ Adolf von Baeyer (1866) "Ueber die Condensationsproducte des Acetons" (On condensation products of acetone), Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie, vol. 140, pages 297-306.
  9. ↑ Ladenburg, Albert (1874) "Ueber das Mesitylen" (On mesitylene), Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft, vol. 7, pages 1133-1137. doi: 10.1002/cber.18740070261
de:Mesitylen

fr:Mésitylène it:Mesitilene nl:Mesityleen ja:メシチレン pl:Mezytylen pt:Mesitileno vi:Mesitylen zh:均三甲苯


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