What is 3-Oxetanone CAS 6704-31-0?
3-Oxetanone CAS 6704-31-0 (systematically named oxetan-3-one) is a highly reactive cyclic organic compound featuring a four-membered ring that contains both an ether oxygen and a carbonyl ketone group. Typically presenting as a colorless, transparent volatile liquid, its molecular architecture is defined by intense internal ring strain. In modern medicinal chemistry and drug discovery, 3-Oxetanone has emerged as an exceptionally vital building block and intermediate. It is widely employed as a “gem-dimethyl” or carbonyl surrogate to introduce the oxetane ring into candidate molecules, which significantly improves metabolic stability, enhances aqueous solubility, and modifies the physicochemical profile of advanced active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).
Specifications
| Item |
Value |
| Appearance |
Colorless transparent liquid |
| Melting Point |
-20 °C (approximate) |
| Boiling Point |
140 °C |
| Density |
1.231 g/cm³ |
| Flash Point |
53 °C |
| Refractive Index |
1.426 |
| Solubility |
Miscible with tetrahydrofuran (THF), dichloromethane, methanol, and water |
| Storage Conditions |
Store at -20 °C under an inert gas atmosphere (nitrogen or argon) to prevent polymerization |
Features
- Highly Strained Oxetane Scaffold: The four-membered heterocyclic ring carries substantial thermodynamic ring strain, imparting high reactivity that drives efficient ring-opening, addition, and cycloaddition protocols.
- Strategic Carbonyl Functionality: The position of the 3-keto group allows for smooth nucleophilic additions, reductive aminations, and Wittig olefinations, facilitating the clean attachment of diverse pharmacophores.
- Metabolic Stabilization Handle: Incorporating the oxetane ring derived from this molecule into chemical structures serves as an effective strategy to replace metabolically vulnerable groups, blocking oxidative degradation by cytochrome P450 enzymes.
- Favorable Physicochemical Modulation: Acting as a robust bioisostere, it optimizes the lipophilicity ($\log P$) of target compounds, drastically improving aqueous solubility while maintaining structural rigidity.
Applications
- Pharmaceutical Research & API Design: Heavily utilized as a core synthesis intermediate in drug discovery pipelines to create specialized oxetane-containing small molecule therapeutics, oncology candidates, and antiviral drugs.
- Heterocyclic Compound Construction: Applied as a reactive chemical block to synthesize a broad spectrum of complex spiro-heterocycles, oxetanyl amines, oxetanol derivatives, and functionalized morpholine analogs.
- Advanced Organic Synthesis & Ring Expansions: Deployed in cutting-edge academic and industrial research for executing regioselective ring-opening reactions, multi-component condensations, and strain-driven chemical transformations.
- Agrochemical Development: Used as a structural precursor in fine chemical synthesis to develop next-generation crop protection agents, targeted fungicides, and specialized bio-pesticides requiring enhanced environmental durability.
Packaging
Mikem offers flexible packaging options, including 25 kg of fiber drums for liquid products and 15–25 kg PP/PE bags for powder products, all customizable to meet your specific needs.