What is "acrolein"

Acrolein \A*cro"le*in\, n. [L. acer sharp + ol[=e]re to smell.] (Chem.) A limpid, colorless, highly volatile liquid, obtained by the dehydration of glycerin, or the destructive distillation of neutral fats containing glycerin. Its vapors are intensely irritating.
--Watts.

n. (context organic compound English) A pungent, acrid, poisonous liquid aldehyde, CH₂=CH-CH=O, made by the destructive distillation of glycerol.

n. a pungent colorless unsaturated liquid aldehyde made from propene [syn: propenal]

Acrolein (systematic name: propenal) is the simplest unsaturated aldehyde. It is a colourless liquid with a piercing, disagreeable, acrid smell. The smell of burnt fat (as when cooking oil is heated to its smoke point) is caused by glycerol in the burning fat breaking down into acrolein. It is produced industrially from propylene and mainly used as a biocide and a building block to other chemical compounds, such as the amino acid methionine.