Ultrastructural Alteration of Intrapulmonary Nerves after Exposure to Organic Solvents

Several billion pounds of ketones are produced annually for industrial use in the United States and worldwide. Those with the highest production volumes include acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, cyclohexanone, 4‐hydroxy‐4‐methyl‐2‐pentanone, isophorone, mesityl oxide, and acetophenone. Common methods used to manufacture ketones include aliphatic hydrocarbon oxidation, alcohol dehydration with subsequent oxidation, dehydrogenation of phenol, alkyl aromatic hydrocarbon oxidation, and condensation reactions. Ketones are commonly used in industry as solvents, extractants, chemical intermediates, and, to a lesser extent, flavor and fragrance ingredients. Although a common effect of excessive ketone exposure is CNS depression some ketones have pulmonary effects that are well below levels that cause acute CNS effects. For example, ketones such as diacetyl and chemically similar chemicals used for flavoring foods, coffee, and e‐cigarettes provide opportunities for widespread exposure and very debilitating pulmonary disease including bronchiolitis obliterans.

Ketones of Four or Five Carbons

O’Donoghue

2023

Ketones of Four Or Five Carbons

Morgott¹,

Topping²,

O’Donoghue³

2001

A ketone is an organic compound containing a carbonyl group (CO) attached to two carbon atoms and can be represented by the general formula Several billion pounds of ketones are produced annually for industrial use in the United States. Those with the highest production volumes include acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, cyclohexanone, 4‐hydroxy‐4‐methyl‐2‐pentanone, isophorone, mesityl oxide, and acetophenone. Common methods used to manufacture ketones include aliphatic hydrocarbon oxidation, alcohol dehydration with subsequent oxidation, dehydrogenation of phenol, alkyl aromatic hydrocarbon oxidation, and condensation reactions. Ketones are used because of their ease of production, low manufacturing cost, excellent solvent properties, and desirable physical properties such as low viscosity, moderate vapor pressure, low to moderate boiling points, high evaporation rates, and a wide range of miscibility with other liquids. The low‐molecular‐weight aliphatic ketones are miscible with water and organic solvents, whereas the high‐molecular‐weight aliphatic and aromatic ketones are generally immiscible with water. Most ketones are chemically stable. The exceptions are mesityl oxide, which can form peroxides, and methyl isopropenyl ketone, which polymerizes. Most ketones are generally of low flammability. Ketones are commonly used in industry as solvents, extractants, chemical intermediates, and to a lesser extent, flavor and fragrance ingredients. Ketones have also been reported in the ambient air, in wastewater treatment plants, and in oil field brine discharges.

Ketones of Four or Five Carbons

O’Donoghue¹

2012

A ketone is an organic compound containing a carbonyl group (CO) attached to two carbon atoms and can be represented by the general formula image Several billion pounds of ketones are produced annually for industrial use in the United States. Those with the highest production volumes include acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, cyclohexanone, 4‐hydroxy‐4‐methyl‐2‐pentanone, isophorone, mesityl oxide, and acetophenone. Common methods used to manufacture ketones include aliphatic hydrocarbon oxidation, alcohol dehydration with subsequent oxidation, dehydrogenation of phenol, alkyl aromatic hydrocarbon oxidation, and condensation reactions. Ketones are used because of their ease of production, low manufacturing cost, excellent solvent properties, and desirable physical properties such as low viscosity, moderate vapor pressure, low to moderate boiling points, high evaporation rates, and a wide range of miscibility with other liquids. The low‐molecular‐weight aliphatic ketones are miscible with water and organic solvents, whereas the high‐molecular‐weight aliphatic and aromatic ketones are generally immiscible with water. Most ketones are chemically stable. The exceptions are mesityl oxide, which can form peroxides, and methyl isopropenyl ketone, which polymerizes. Most ketones are generally of low flammability. Ketones are commonly used in industry as solvents, extractants, chemical intermediates, and, to a lesser extent, flavor and fragrance ingredients. Ketones have also been reported in the ambient air, in wastewater treatment plants, and in oil field brine discharges.