Vinyl chloride
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Description
A colorless gas with an ether-like odor. Vinyl chloride was first made synthetically in 1835. It is primarily used to make Polyvinyl chloride. At one time vinyl chloride was used as a refrigerant and as a propellant in aerosol cans, but those uses were banned because of its toxicity.
Synonyms and Related Terms
VC; chloroethene; chloroethylene
Risks
- Human carcinogen, mutagen, and teratogen.
- Extremely toxic by inhalation.
- Contact with liquid will cause frostbite.
- Flammable. Flash point = -78 C
- Explosive in air (at 4-22%).
- Airgas: SDS
Physical and Chemical Properties
Soluble in ethanol, ether, carbon tetrachloride, benzene. Slightly soluble in water.
| Composition | CH2:CHCl |
|---|---|
| CAS | 75-01-4 |
| Melting Point | -153 C |
| Density | 0.9 g/ml |
| Molecular Weight | mol. wt. = 62.50 |
| Refractive Index | 1.3700 |
| Boiling Point | -13.37 C |
Resources and Citations
- Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993
- Michael McCann, Artist Beware, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York City, 1979
- Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997
- The Merck Index, Martha Windholz (ed.), Merck Research Labs, Rahway NJ, 10th edition, 1983 Comment: entry 10132
- The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998