Acetone cyanohydrin

List of Chemical Substances

Published in T.S.S. Dikshith, and Safety, 2016

Acetone cyanohydrin is extremely toxic. Exposures to acetone cyanohydrin cause adverse health effects. The symptoms of toxicity include, but are not limited to, irritation to the eyes, skin, respiratory system, dizziness, lassitude (weakness, exhaustion), headache, confusion, pulmonary edema, asphyxia convulsions, liver, kidney injury, pulmonary edema, and asphyxia. The target organs include the eyes, skin, respiratory system, central nervous system (CNS), cardiovascular system, liver, kidneys, and the gastrointestinal tract.

Recent trends in the treatment of cyanide-containing effluents: Comparison of different approaches

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Published in Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 2023

Ludmila Martínková, Pavla Bojarová, Anastasia Sedova, Vladimír Křen

The products of the cyanation of aldehydes and ketones are cyanohydrins, which are intermediates for fine and pharmaceutical chemicals. For example, mandelonitrile has been obtained by cyanation of benzaldehyde and used to produce mandelic acid (chiral resolving agent, chiral building block). This product is often required in an enantiopure form, such as (R)-mandelic acid, which can be prepared by biocatalytic hydrolysis of racemic mandelonitrile (Martínková & Křen, 2018). (R)-2-Chloromandelic acid can be prepared analogously and is a precursor of the antithrombotic drug clopidogrel (Zou et al., 2021). Cyanation of acetone gives acetone cyanohydrin, a precursor of methyl methacrylate, which is used for the production of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) known as, e.g., acrylic or “Plexiglas”.

Acetone cyanohydrin

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List of Chemical Substances

Recent trends in the treatment of cyanide-containing effluents: Comparison of different approaches