Glutaraldehyde
- Glutaraldehyde
- 1.5 pentanedial
- Glutaral
Colorless, sharp -smelling liquid
Liquid
1.06 g · cm -3 ( 20 ° C)
-6 ° C
188 ° C.
13 hPa ( 71 ° C)
Miscible with water
Risk
0.21 mg · m-3 and 0.05 ml · m-3
Template: Infobox chemical / molecular formula search available
Glutaraldehyde, correctly referred to as 1,5- pentanedial, is a colorless liquid at room temperature and chemical compound with a sharp unpleasant odor. It consists of a chain of five carbon atoms, with a total of eight hydrogen atoms. There are aldehyde at both ends. Glutaraldehyde can therefore be regarded as the dialdehyde of the n- pentane. Due to its high reactivity, it is not commercially available as a pure substance, but only in the form of mostly aqueous solutions.
Use
Glutaraldehyde appears as an intermediate in the industrial production process of some chemicals and is used directly:
- To disinfect medical and dental equipment.
- In water treatment for industrial purposes,
- As a disinfectant for industrial facilities, such as pipelines or production facilities of the cosmetic industry
- As an additive in detergents
- As a chemical preservative
- As tanning of leather
- As an embalming fluid ( fixative ) for fabrics in light microscopy and electron microscopy
- As a cross -linker in the coating of ELISA plates with peptides
- As a cross-linker between proteins. An immobilized by cross-linking an enzyme by the bifunctional glutaraldehyde is covalently linked by the two reactive aldehyde groups are associated with one free amino group of the enzyme. The aim is to increase the biological half-life by increasing the mechanical and thermal stability and a reduction in proteolysis.
Safety
Glutaraldehyde is toxic and causes severe eye, nose, throat and lung irritation associated with headache, drowsiness and dizziness.
Ecological relevance
Glutaraldehyde is highly toxic, especially to aquatic organisms.
Since early 2008, it comes through plans run by energy company Gazprom Nord Stream consortium into the public consciousness. It is contemplated to clean the newly built Baltic Pipeline means of aqueous glutaraldehyde solution. The need for 2.3 billion liters of solution should then be pumped into the Baltic Sea. A paper of the Ministry of the Environment points out, fauna and flora of the Baltic Sea were already heavily burdened by pollutants.