Thermal Hazards of Using Propargyl Alcohol with Strong Bases

Thermal hazard screening of a reaction mixture that involves the use of propargyl alcohol as the reactant/solvent along with potassium hydroxide as catalyst resulted in catastrophic thermal decomposition that ruptured an accelerating rate calorimeter (ARC) test cell. Due to this critical hazard, scale-up of the chemistry was not advisible. In order to enable scale-up, further investigations into solvent and base combinations were carried out. New optimum conditions enabled the synthesis of the desired product in a safe manner. The main purpose of this manuscript is to alert the scientific community to the thermal hazards of this compound.