Styrene - C8H8

Styrene, C8H8, is a colourless fluid with pungent aromatic smell. The structural formula of styrene is C6H5CH=CH2.

Styrene is used in the production of polystyrene, styrene rubber and styrene plastics. Styrene itself is produced when benzene is alkylated with ethylene to ethylbenzene with aluminium chloride as catalyst. Then you get styrene by dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene.

Properties

Molecular weight   104.15 g/mol

Solid phase   Melting point: -30 °C

Liquid phase   Boiling point: 145 °C