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Definition
The organic compound acetone (CH3COCH3) is the simplest example of a ketone. Under standard conditions, it is a colorless, flammable liquid. Acetone is naturally produced by normal metabolic processes in the human body. Since it is miscible with water, it serves as an important laboratory solvent. Rotational transitions in both the ground vibrational state and in the first excited torsional state have been detected by radio astronomers in molecular clouds.
History
Although detection of acetone in a molecular cloud toward the center of our Milky Way galaxy was reported by radio astronomers in 1987, secure confirmation of its presence in interstellar clouds was not achieved until some 15 years later.
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References and Further Reading
Friedel DN, Snyder LE, Remijan AJ, Turner BE (2005) Detection of acetone toward the orion-KL hot core. Astrophys J 632:L95–L98
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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Irvine, W.M. (2014). Acetone. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1828-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1828-4
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Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4
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