nitromethane

[¦nī·trō′meth‚ān]

(organic chemistry)

CH₃NO₂ A liquid nitroparaffin compound; oily and colorless; boils at 101°C; used as a monopropellant for rockets, in chemical synthesis, and as an industrial solvent for cellulosics, resins, waxes, fats, and dyestuffs.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Nitromethane

CH₃NO₂, the simplest aliphatic nitro compound; a colorless liquid with an odor of bitter almonds. Boiling point, 101.2°C; density, 1.138 g/cm³ (20°C).

Nitromethane is soluble in water and is miscible with ordinary organic solvents (except paraffins); it forms an azeotrope with water (boiling point, 83.6°C; 76.4 percent nitromethane). It condenses readily with aldehydes, ketones, and ethylene oxide. For example, the reaction with formaldehyde is

CH₃NO₂ + CH₂O → HOCH₂CH₂NO₂

In industry, nitromethane is usually produced by degradative nitration of propane. It is used mainly as a solvent (for example, for cellulose ester varnishes and vinyl polymers), for the extraction of aromatic hydrocarbons, and in the production of chloropicrin and a number of explosives. Nitromethane is poisonous; its maximum permissible concentration in the air in working areas is 0.01 percent.

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References in periodicals archive

A three-neck flask was utilized to dissolve iron chloride (11.05 g, 66.08 mmol) in dry chloroform (100 mL) and nitromethane (50 mL) under a continuous flow of nitrogen at 0[degrees]C.

Physicochemical and Luminescent Properties of Copolymers Composed of Three Monomers: Polythiophenes Based on 3-Hexylthiophene and 3,4-Ethylenedioxythiophene

Think of it like adding nitromethane to the gas tank of a poorly maintained 1972 Ford Pinto.

Bleeding green

Dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), /V.A'-dimethylformamide (DMF), N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc), nitromethane, and N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) were purchased from Chinasun (Enox) Specialty Chemicals, Jiangsu, China.

Direct grafting poly(methyl methacrylate) from Ti[O.sub.2] nanoparticles via [Cu.sup.2+]-amine redox-initiated radical polymerization: an advantage of monocenter initiation

The amount of quenching was changed by the addition of 0 to 12 drops of a 1:10 dilution (by volume) of nitromethane in ethanol.

Revision of the NIST Standard for [sup.223]Ra: New Measurements and Review of 2008 Data

All four experiments were conducted using an explosive charge of nitromethane and a carefully controlled backfill of Socorro plaster sand.

Experimental and numerical investigation of the ground shock coupling factor for near-surface detonations

Hambourger, "Condensation of aromatic aldehydes with nitromethane in the presence of alcoholic sodium hydroxide," Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol.

Facile and promising method for Michael addition of indole and pyrrole to electron-deficient trans-[beta]-nitroolefins catalyzed by a hydrogen bond donor catalyst feist's acid and preliminary study of antimicrobial activity

A thermochemical evaluation of TEA mixed with hydrocarbon solvents hexane, methanol, aniline, nitromethane, and nitropropane was performed with the oxidizers liquid oxygen (LOX), nitrogen tetroxide (NTO, [N.sub.2][O.sub.4]), nitrous oxide ([N.sub.2]O), liquefied air, and nitric acid (HN[O.sub.3]) using the NASA Lewis Code Chemical Equilibrium with Applications (CEA2) [14].

Thermochemical analysis of hypergolic propellants based on triethylaluminum/nitrous oxide

The electrochemical investigations were conducted by means of cyclic voltammetry (CV) in acetonitrile (ACN), dimethylformamide (DMF), propylene carbonate (PC), or nitromethane (NM), solvents commonly used for electrochemical measurements, aiming to draw some conclusions in the solvent effects on the chemosensors chelating ability.

Solvent effects on the electrochemical behavior of TAPD-based redox-responsive probes for cadmium(II)

(2010) evaluated the solvating power of toluene, tetrahydrofuran, acetone and nitromethane for a polymer since it depends on their solubility parameter and observed the effect on the particles morphology, taking into consideration that the addition of compressed C[O.sub.2] to a polymer solution would increase the difference in the solubility parameter between the solvent and polymer.

Micronization processes by supercritical fluid technologies: a short review on process design (2008-2012)/Processos de micronizacao utilizando tecnologia supercritica: uma breve revisao sobre projeto de processos (200-2012)

Pandey, "Selective fluorescence quenching of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by nitromethane within room temperature ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate," Analytica Chimica Acta, vol.

Glass frit dissolution influenced by material composition and the water content in iodide/triiodide electrolyte of dye-sensitized solar cells