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Please be aware that this old REACH registration data factsheet is no longer maintained; it remains frozen as of 19th May 2023.

The new ECHA CHEM database has been released by ECHA, and it now contains all REACH registration data. There are more details on the transition of ECHA's published data to ECHA CHEM here.

Diss Factsheets

Environmental fate & pathways

Hydrolysis

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Description of key information

Aliphatic alcohols are resistant to hydrolysis because they lack a functional group that is hydrolytically reactive.Therefore, this fate process will not contribute to a measurable degradative loss of this substance from the environment.

Key value for chemical safety assessment

Additional information

Hydrolysis of an organic molecule occurs when a molecule (R-X) reacts with water (H2O) to form a new carbon-oxygen bond after the carbon-X bond is cleaved. Mechanistically, this reaction is referred to as a nucleophilic substitution reaction, where X is the leaving group being replaced by the incoming nucleophilic oxygen from the water molecule. Chemicals that are susceptible to hydrolysis contain functional groups that can be displaced by a nucleophilic substitution reaction. Substances that have the potential to hydrolyze include alkyl halides, amides, carbamates, carboxylic acid esters and lactones, epoxides, phosphate esters, and sulfonic acid esters. The lack of a leaving group renders a compound resistant to hydrolysis. Aliphatic alcohols are resistant to hydrolysis because they lack a functional group that is hydrolytically reactive. Therefore, this fate process will not contribute to a measurable degradative loss of this substance from the environment.