It is composed of both alkyne and alkene groups and is the simplest enyne.
Vinylacetylene is extremely dangerous because in high enough concentrations (typically > 30 mole percent, but pressure dependent) it can auto-detonate (explode without air being present) especially at elevated pressures, such as those seen in chemical plants processing C4 hydrocarbons.
[2] An example of such an explosion occurred at a Union Carbide plant in Texas City in 1969.
[citation needed] At one time, chloroprene (2-chloro-1,3-butadiene), an industrially important monomer, was produced via the intermediacy of vinyl acetylene.
This allene derivative which, in the presence of cuprous chloride, rearranges to 2-chloro-1,3-butadiene:[8]