1 Prioritised substance group: Aprotic solvents Responsible author Normunds Kadikis Email
[email protected] Short Name of Institution VIAA, LV Phone Co-authors 1.1 Background Information In chemistry the solvents are qualitatively grouped into non-polar, polar aprotic, and polar protic solvents. A protic solvent is a solvent that has a hydrogen atom bound to oxygen (as in a hydroxyl group) or nitrogen (as in an amine group). In general terms, any solvent that contains a labile H+ is called a protic solvent. The molecules of such solvents readily donate protons (H+) to reagents. On the contrary, aprotic solvents cannot donate hydrogen as they do not have O-H or N-H bonds. The "a" means "without", and "protic" refers to protons or hydrogen atoms. Examples of non-polar solvents are benzene, toluene, chloroform, dichloromethane, etc. Examples of polar protic solvents are water, most alcohols, formic acid, ammonia, etc, In their turn, some common polar aprotic solvents are acetone, acetonitrile, dimethylformamide, dimethylsulfoxide, etc. There are numerous aprotic solvents, and they are widely used in different applications - as pH regulators and in water treatment products, anti-freeze products, coating products, lubricants and greases, adhesives and sealants, air care products (scented candles, air freshening sprays, electric and non-electric fragrance diffusers), non-metal-surface treatment products, inks and toners, leather treatment products, polishes and waxes, washing and cleaning products. They are also used as laboratory chemicals in scientific research, in agriculture, forestry and fishing as well as in the formulation of mixtures and/or re-packaging. During the second prioritisation process within HBM4EU the ECHA and Germany proposed to include in the second list of priority substances four aprotic solvents that have a similar toxicological profile and a harmonised classification for reproductive toxicity: ▸ 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), ▸ 1-ethylpyrrolidin-2-one (NEP), ▸ N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAC), ▸ N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF).