Vinyl
|
Chemical structure of the vinyl functional group. |
A
vinyl is any
organic compound that contains a
vinyl group, −
CH=CH
2. These are derivatives of
ethene (also known as ethylene), CH
2=CH
2, with one
hydrogen atom substituted with some other group.
The vinyl group forms part of the
allyl group and is also contained in all
acrylates. Many
alkenes contain a vinyl group.
Because of the highly reactive
double bond, vinyls can be made to
polymerize, forming
vinyl polymers. In these polymers, the double bonds of the vinyl
monomers turn into single bonds and the different monomers are joined by single bonds. This is an instance of
addition polymerization. There are no vinyl groups in the resulting polymer.
Main article: Vinyl polymer
*
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is made by
polymerization of the
monomer vinyl chloride (chloroethene) CH
2=CHCl
*
Polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) is made by polymerization of
vinyl acetate. In a water suspension, this is used as a glue.
*
Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is produced by
hydrolysis of
polyvinyl acetate. (Not by polymerization of the monomer vinyl alcohol or
ethenol, which is a unfavored keto-enol
tautomer of
acetaldehyde.)
The
etymology of
vinyl is the
Latin vinum = "
wine", because of its relationship with
alcohol (in its original sense of
ethyl alcohol).
The 'slang' term vinyl is commonly used for products that contain PVC, such as
vinyl records,
vinyl roofs,
vinyl siding, and
vinyl strapping.
