2,5-DINITROPHENOL

Chemical properties

Yellow needles, flammable. Soluble in ether, benzene, hot water, and ethanol.

The Uses of 2,5-DINITROPHENOL

2,5-Dinitrophenol (wetted with ca. 20% Water) (unit weight on dry weight basis) is a useful reagent for the preparation of yttrium nitrophenolate aminebis(benzotriazolylphenolate) complexes.

Definition

ChEBI: 2,5-dinitrophenol is a dinitrophenol having the nitro groups at the 2- and 5-positions.

General Description

Yellow crystalline solid with a sweet musty odor. Sinks and mixes slowly with water.

Air & Water Reactions

Slowly mixes with water.

Reactivity Profile

2,5-DINITROPHENOL can detonate or explode when heated under confinement [USCG, 1999]. Phenols do not behave as organic alcohols, as one might guess from the presence of a hydroxyl (-OH) group in their structure. Instead, they react as weak organic acids. Phenols and cresols are much weaker as acids than common carboxylic acids (phenol has Ka = 1.3 x 10^[-10]). These materials are incompatible with strong reducing substances such as hydrides, nitrides, alkali metals, and sulfides. Flammable gas (H2) is often generated, and the heat of the reaction may ignite the gas. Heat is also generated by the acid-base reaction between phenols and bases.

Health Hazard

INHALATION, INGESTION OR SKIN ABSORPTION: Fatigue, thirst, sweating, flushing of face, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea; restlessness, anxiety, excitement occasionaly leading to convulsions; fever, tachycardia, labored respiration, cyanosis, and sometimes muscle cramps. Loss of consciousness, cessation of breathing and death. EYES: Causes dilation of pupils or posterior subcapsular opacities or cataracts. SKIN: Discoloration, irritation, and dermatitis.

Purification Methods

Crystallise 2,5-dinitrophenol from H2O with a little EtOH. [Beilstein 6 IV 1383.]