Methyl methacrylate



Methyl methacrylate
IUPAC name methyl 2-methylprop-2-enoate
Other names MMA,
2-(methoxycarbonyl)-1-propene
Identifiers
CAS number 80-62-6
RTECS number OZ5075000
SMILES CC(=C)C(=O)OC
Properties
Molecular formula C5H8O2
Molar mass 100.12 g/mol
Appearance clear colourless liquid
Density 0.94 g/cm³
Melting point

-48 °C (225 K)

Boiling point

101 °C (374 K)

Solubility in water 1.5 g/100 ml (25 °C)
Viscosity 0.6 cP at 20 °C
Structure
Dipole moment 1.6-1.97 D
Hazards
Main hazards flammable
Flash point 2 °C (autoignition 435 °C)
Except where noted otherwise, data are given for
materials in their standard state
(at 25 °C, 100 kPa)
Infobox disclaimer and references

Methyl methacrylate is a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA).

Production

Major producers worldwide include Cyro, Arkema, Rohm and Haas, Mitsubishi Rayon, and Sumitomo. The United States production in 1993 amounted to 600 thousand metric tonnes per annum (mt/a), and the worldwide production in 2005 was estimated at 3.2 million mt/a.

Most producers apply an formaldehyde are applied as well.

Some Asian producers apply an methanol as raw materials, with a homogeneous palladium-phosphine catalyst being used to prompt the reaction to create MMA.

Uses

The principal application of methyl methacrylate is the production of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) acrylic plastics. Also methyl methacrylate is used for the production of the co-polymer methyl methacrylate-butadiene-styrene (MBS), used as a modifier for PVC.

Methyl methacrylate polymers and co-polymers are used for waterborne coatings, such latex house paint. It is also used in adhesive formulations.

A modern application is the use in plates that keep light spread evenly across LCD computer and TV screens.

Methyl methacrylate is also used to prepare corrosion casts of anatomical organs, such as coronary arteries of the heart.

References

    • Chemical data on Chemicalland
    • US Environmental Protection Agency, 1994 data
    • Intox Cheminfo data
    • SRI Consulting PEP report
     
    This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Methyl_methacrylate". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.