Vinyl alcohol

Vinyl alcohol
Structural formula of ethenol	Ball-and-stick model of ethenol
Names
	Preferred IUPAC name Ethenol
	Other names Hydroxyethene; Hydroxyethylene; Ethylenol
Identifiers
CAS Number	557-75-5 ;
3D model (JSmol)	Interactive image;
ChEMBL	ChEMBL76101 ;
ChemSpider	10726 ;
ECHA InfoCard	100.008.350
PubChem CID	11199;
UNII	GO1N1ZPR3B ;
CompTox Dashboard (EPA)	DTXSID8051467 ;
	SMILES OC=C;
Properties
Chemical formula	C2H4O
Molar mass	44.053 g/mol
Related compounds
Related compounds	Allyl alcohol
	Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
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	Infobox references

Vinyl alcohol is an unstable chemical compound. It is the simplest enol. Because of the tautomerism common to enols, it changes into acetaldehyde almost as soon as it is made. Because it lasts for so little time, it can't be used in chemical reactions except when made as a reaction intermediate.

Even though it can't be made or used easily, derivatives of vinyl alcohol are important ingredients in the chemical industry. Vinyl esters, which replace the hydrogen atom of the hydroxy group with an acyl group, can polymerise into vinyl polymers like polyvinyl acetate. Hydrolysis of these polymers makes polyvinyl alcohol, the homopolymer of vinyl alcohol.