Ethyl nitrate

It is used in organic synthesis with use as a nitrating agent and as an intermediate in the preparation of some drugs, dyes, and perfumes.

Ethyl nitrate is found in the atmosphere, where it can react with other gases to form smog.

[2] Reaction of ethanol with nitric acid was investigated since the Middle Ages, but the fact that it produces mostly ethyl nitrite was not discovered until the 19th century.

Eugène Millon was the first to synthesize ethyl nitrate in 1843 by adding urea to the mixture in order to remove any nitrous acid.

[6] Ethyl nitrate has also been prepared by bubbling gaseous nitryl fluoride through ethanol at −10 °C.

Skeletal formula of ethyl nitrate
Ball-and-stick model of the ethyl nitrate molecule
NFPA 704 four-colored diamond Health 2: Intense or continued but not chronic exposure could cause temporary incapacitation or possible residual injury. E.g. chloroform Flammability 3: Liquids and solids that can be ignited under almost all ambient temperature conditions. Flash point between 23 and 38 °C (73 and 100 °F). E.g. gasoline Instability 4: Readily capable of detonation or explosive decomposition at normal temperatures and pressures. E.g. nitroglycerin Special hazards (white): no code