Neopentyl glycol is an organic

Organic chemistry

Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives...

 chemical compound

Chemical compound

A chemical compound is a pure chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical elements that can be separated into simpler substances by chemical reactions. Chemical compounds have a unique and defined chemical structure; they consist of a fixed ratio of atoms that are held together...

. It is used in the synthesis of polyester

Polyester

Polyester is a category of polymers which contain the ester functional group in their main chain. Although there are many polyesters, the term "polyester" as a specific material most commonly refers to polyethylene terephthalate...

s, paint

Paint

Paint is any liquid, liquefiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film. One may also consider the digital mimicry thereof...

s, lubricant

Lubricant

A lubricant is a substance introduced to reduce friction between moving surfaces. It may also have the function of transporting foreign particles and of distributing heat...

s, and plasticizer

Plasticizer

Plasticizers or dispersants are additives that increase the plasticity or fluidity of the material to which they are added; these include plastics, cement, concrete, wallboard, and clay. Although the same compounds are often used for both plastics and concretes the desired effects and results are...

s. When used in the manufacture of polyesters, it enhances the stability of the product towards heat, light, and water. By esterification reaction with fatty or carboxylic acids, synthetic lubricating esters with reduced potential for oxidation or hydrolysis

Hydrolysis

Hydrolysis is a chemical reaction during which molecules of water are split into hydrogen cations and hydroxide anions in the process of a chemical mechanism. It is the type of reaction that is used to break down certain polymers, especially those made by condensation polymerization...

, compared to natural esters, can be produced.

Reactions

Neopentyl glycol is synthesized industrially by the aldol reaction

Aldol reaction

The aldol reaction is a powerful means of forming carbon–carbon bonds in organic chemistry.Discovered independently by Charles-Adolphe Wurtz and Alexander Porfyrevich Borodin in 1872, the reaction combines two carbonyl compounds to form a new β-hydroxy carbonyl compound...

 of formaldehyde

Formaldehyde

Formaldehyde is an organic compound with the formula CH2O. It is the simplest aldehyde, hence its systematic name methanal.Formaldehyde is a colorless gas with a characteristic pungent odor. It is an important precursor to many other chemical compounds, especially for polymers...

 and isobutyraldehyde

Isobutyraldehyde

Isobutyraldehyde is the chemical compound with the formula 2CHCHO. It is an aldehyde, isomeric with n-butyraldehyde . Isobutyraldehyde is manufactured, often as a side-product, by the hydroformylation of propene...

. This creates the intermediate hydroxypivaldehyde, which can be converted to neopentyl glycol with either excess formaldehyde or catalytic hydrogenation of the aldehyde

Aldehyde

An aldehyde is an organic compound containing a formyl group. This functional group, with the structure R-CHO, consists of a carbonyl center bonded to hydrogen and an R group....

 group to an alcohol

Alcohol

In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

group.