What is acrolein?
Acrolein is a chemical substance or molecule known as the simplest unsaturated aldehyde. Unsaturated molecules are molecules that contain double or triple bonds. In organic chemistry, unsaturated molecules are usually hydrocarbons (molecules composed primarily of hydrogen and carbon). The presence of a double or triple bond means that the molecule cannot be saturated with hydrogen, since a double or triple bond would be dedicated to two carbons, not a carbon and another hydrogen. Alternatively, when a molecule consists of only single bonds, this allows a maximum amount of hydrogen bonding and then becomes a saturated molecule.
Aldehydes are molecules that contain a carbon atom double bonded to an oxygen atom and single bonded to a hydrogen atom. This is called the aldehyde functionality. Functional groups are specific parts of molecules that have different chemical properties. Acrolein has an aldehyde functional group attached to another carbon atom that is single bonded to a hydrogen atom and double bonded to a methylene group. A methylene group is a carbon atom single bonded to two hydrogen atoms. The double bond between the central carbon of acrolein and the methylene group classifies acrolein as an unsaturated molecule.
Acrolein formulation
The molecular formula of acrolein is CH2 CHCHO. Acrolein contains:
three carbon atoms
four hydrogen atoms
an oxygen atom
The molecular weight of this molecule is 56.06 grams per mole. Acrolein is formed when fossil fuels and tobacco are burned, and by heating animal and vegetable fats.
Acrolein Chemical Structure
The general chemical structure of acrolein is a simple unsaturated aldehyde. Acrolein consists of an aldehyde functional group attached to a central carbon to which a methylene group is attached. The central carbon is bonded to a methylene double bond, which makes the entire molecule unsaturated. If the central carbon is single bonded to a methyl group instead of a methylene group (-CH3 instead of -CH2), there is now room for an additional hydrogen atom to be attached to the central carbon.
Acrolein contains the following functional groups:
An aldehyde group: a carbon atom double bonded to an oxygen atom and single bonded to a hydrogen atom.
A methine: a carbon atom that is single bonded to a hydrogen atom, single bonded to one carbon atom, and double bonded to another carbon atom. In the case of acrolein, this is the central carbon.
A methylene group: a carbon atom single bonded to two hydrogens and double bonded to another carbon
