Acetonitrile; a Compound Used As a Solvent in Many Different Industrial Applications

 

Acetonitrile

Acetonitrile is a toxic, colorless liquid with an ether-like odor and a sweet, burnt taste; produced mainly as a byproduct during the manufacture of acrylonitrile. It is widely used as a solvent in perfume production, casting & molding of plastic materials, pharmaceuticals, the purification of butadiene in refineries, extraction of fatty acids from animal and vegetable oil, and others. Acetonitrile is also known as ethyl nitrile, cyanomethane, ethanenitrile, acettonitrile cluster, methyl cyanide, and methanecarbonitrile.

Laboratories commonly use acetonitrile as a solvent for crystallizing a variety of chemicals. Acetonitrile find many applications in various end-use industries because of its lower viscosity (methanol forms highly viscous mixtures with water at certain concentrations), low UV cutoff, and higher boiling point. It is a highly polar, volatile organic compound used as a solvent in many different industrial applications. Moreover, acetonitrile is also used to extract fatty acids from animal and vegetable oils.

Furthermore, it is used as a solvent in high-performance liquid chromatography. It is also used as a raw material in various industries for production, as well as for synthesizing new pesticides, medicines, vitamin B1, and several other products in the pharmaceutical industry. Acetonitrile is also a common two-carbon building block in organic synthesis of various useful chemicals, such as thiamine, acetamidine hydrochloride, and α-napthaleneacetic acid. It is used to make rubber products, perfumes, batteries, and acrylic nail removers, among others.

Acetonitrile is regarded as a key solvent in the pharmaceutical industry. Therefore, there is an increasing demand for acetonitrile, especially in the pharmaceutical industry. It is used as a starting material to synthesize vitamin A and B1, cortisone, carbonate drugs, and some amino acids. INEOS in the U.S., three producers in mainland China (Jiangsu Sailboat, CNPC Jilin, and Shanghai SECCO), and Asahi Kasei in Japan are the leading producers of acetonitrile; together, these producers account for around 39% of global capacity in 2020.