Buy Paraldehyde (trimer) Cas 123-63-7

Paraldehyde is the cyclic trimer of acetaldehyde molecules.^[2] Formally, it is a derivative of 1,3,5-trioxane, with a methyl group substituted for a hydrogen atom at each carbon. The corresponding tetramer is metaldehyde. A colourless liquid, it is sparingly soluble in water and highly soluble in ethanol. Paraldehyde slowly oxidizes in air, turning brown and producing an odour of acetic acid. It attacks most plastics and rubbers and should be kept in glass bottles.

Paraldehyde was first observed in 1835 by the German chemist Justus Liebig; its empirical formula was determined in 1838 by Liebig’s student Hermann Fehling.^[3][4] The German chemist Valentin Hermann Weidenbusch (1821–1893), another of Liebig’s students, synthesized paraldehyde in 1848 by treating acetaldehyde with acid (either sulfuric or nitric acid) and cooling to 0°C. He found it quite remarkable that when paraldehyde was heated with a trace of the same acid, the reaction went the other way, recreating acetaldehyde.^[5][6]

Paraldehyde has uses in industry and medicine.

Paraldehyde can be produced by the direct reaction of acetaldehyde and sulfuric acid. The product of the reaction is dependent on the temperature. At room temperature and higher, the formation of trimer is preferred, but at lower temperatures, around  −10 °C, the tetramer metaldehyde is more likely to be produced.^[7]