Pentaerythritol

Pentaerythritol is an organic compound with four alcohol groups that is synthesized from formaldehyde and acetaldehyde. The compound has five carbon atoms and is a white crystalline powder. Pentaerythritol's characteristic properties include its slightly sweet taste and high combustibility. Furthermore, it is readily soluble in boiling water, moderately soluble in cold water, slightly soluble in alcohol, and fully insoluble in benzene, tetrachloromethane, ether and petroleum ether. Pentaerythritol is typically used in esterification reactions with acids. One famous example of this is the esterification with nitric acid. This reaction produces one of the most powerful explosive materials in the world: pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN). The compound is even stronger than C4, which itself has a reputation as a formidable explosive

As early as 1891, German chemist Bernhard Tollens discovered how to synthesize pentaerythritol (CAS Registry Number: 115-77-5) using a condensation reaction under alkaline conditions, called the aldol reaction. To produce pentaerythritol, acetaldehyde is reacted with another aldehyde molecule (in this case formaldehyde). Then the mixture must undergo what is known as the crossed Cannizzaro reaction. Apart from being used in the laboratory, this method of making pentaerythritol is also well-established and widely adopted on an industrial scale by all pentaerythritol suppliers and manufacturers.

Pentyerythritol has the CAS number 115-77-5.