Clear, colorless, flammable liquid with an odor resembling hexane. An odor threshold
concentration of 4.5 ppmv was reported by Nagata and Takeuchi (1990).
It is used in the liquid-phase oxidation of 2,4-dimethylpentane and in a study on the preparation and the physical constants of a number of alkanes and cycloalkanes.
2,3-Dimethylpentane belongs to the class of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
In diesel engine exhaust at a concentration of 0.9% of emitted hydrocarbons (quoted,
Verschueren, 1983). Schauer et al. (1999) reported 2,3-dimethylpentane in a diesel-powered
medium-duty truck exhaust at an emission rate of 720 μg/km.
California Phase II reformulated gasoline contained 2,3-dimethylpentane at a concentration of
29.4 g/kg. Gas-phase tailpipe emission rates from gasoline-powered automobiles with and without
catalytic converters were 5.34 and 714 mg/km, respectively (Schauer et al., 2002).
Photolytic. A photooxidation rate constant of 3.4 x 10-12 cm3/molecule?sec was reported for the
gas-phase reaction of 2,3-dimethylpentane and OH radicals (Atkinson, 1990).
Chemical/Physical. Complete combustion in air yields carbon dioxide and water vapor. 2,3-
Dimethylpentane will not hydrolyze because it has no hydrolyzable functional group.
