The key difference between avobenzone and benzene is that avobenzone is a common product in sunscreen products, whereas benzene is not used as an ingredient in sunscreen products.
Avobenzone and benzene are important organic chemical compounds that have different chemical and physical properties as well as different applications. This article describes their properties and different applications.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Avobenzone
3. What is Benzene
4. Avobenzone vs Benzene in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Avobenzone vs Benzene
What is Avobenzone?
Avobenzone is an organic compound having the chemical formula C20H22O3. It is an oil-soluble ingredient that is useful in sunscreen products for the absorption of the full spectrum of UVA rays. It appears as colorless crystals or as whitish to yellowish crystalline powder having a weak odor. Moreover, it can dissolve in isopropanol, dimethyl sulfoxide, decyl oleate, capric acid, triglycerides, and other oils. In addition, it is not water-soluble.
Figure 01: The Chemical Structure of Avobenzone
We can prepare avobenzone by the reaction of 4-tert-butylbenzoic methyl ester with 4-methoxyacetophenone in toluene in the presence of sodium amide through Claisen Condensation.
When considering the chemistry of this compound, it is a dibenzoyl methane derivative that is soluble in oil. The molar mass of this compound is 310.4 g/mol. It has a hydrogen bond acceptor count of 3, but the hydrogen bond donor count is 0. The melting point of this compound is 83.5 degrees Celsius, and the solubility of water is poor, so we can say it is insoluble in water. But it is soluble in isopropanol, decyl oleate, capric triglyceride, and castor oil. Moreover, it is stable under given conditions.
What is Benzene?
Benzene is an organic compound having the chemical formula C6H6. This organic compound has a six-membered ring structure, and all members are carbon atoms. Each of these carbon atoms is attached to a hydrogen atom. Since this compound contains only carbon and hydrogen atoms, it is a hydrocarbon. Moreover, this compound naturally occurs as a constituent of crude oil.
Figure 02: The Chemical Structure of Benzene
The molar mass of benzene is 78.11 g/mol. Its melting point and boiling points are 5.53 °C and 80.1 °C, respectively. Benzene is a colorless liquid at room temperature. Furthermore, it is an aromatic hydrocarbon. As a result, it has an aromatic odor. Moreover, according to X-ray diffraction determinations, all the bonds between the six carbon atoms have similar lengths. Therefore, it has an intermediate structure. We call it a “hybrid structure” because, according to the bond formation, there should be alternating single bonds and double bonds between the carbon atoms. Subsequently, the actual benzene structure is a result of several resonance structures of the benzene molecule.
What is the Difference Between Avobenzone and Benzene?
Avobenzone and benzene have different applications according to their different chemical and physical properties. Avobenzone is an organic compound having the chemical formula C20H22O3 while benzene is an organic compound having the chemical formula C6H6. The key difference between avobenzone and benzene is that avobenzone is a common product in sunscreen products, whereas benzene is not used as an ingredient in sunscreen products. Moreover, avobenzone appears as colorless crystals or as whitish to yellowish crystalline powder, while benzene appears clear, colorless to light yellow liquid at room temperature.
The below infographic presents the differences between avobenzone and benzene in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.
Summary – Avobenzone vs Benzene
Avobenzone and benzene are different organic compounds with different properties and applications. The key difference between avobenzone and benzene is that avobenzone is a common product in sunscreen products, whereas benzene is not used as an ingredient in sunscreen products. Moreover, they have different appearances as well as largely different melting and boiling points.
Reference:
1. “Avobenzone.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Compound Database, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Avobenzon” By Kchm123 – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Benzene-6H-delocalized” By An elite – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia