Although stable in the gaseous form, once condensed it reacts with itself.

The protonated derivative forms isolable salts, e.g. aminoacetone hydrochloride ([CH3C(O)CH2NH3]Cl)).

[2] Aminoacetone is a metabolite that is implicated in the biosynthesis of methylglyoxal.

[3] Aminoacetone is also produced during catabolism of the amino acid threonine.

Threonine is first dehydrogenated to 2-amino-3-oxobutyrate, which is unstable and spontaneously decarboxylates to aminoacetone.