Home/Chemicals/78-98-8

Chemical substance record

Methylglyoxal

78-98-8C₃H₄O₂72.063 g/mol

Organic/Inorganic Small MoleculeChEBI source record

A 2-oxo aldehyde derived from propanal. — ChEBI

Safety references

Safety documents & references

Supplier matching matters

Find the safety document for your specific supplier, product number and grade.

Find a product-specific SDS

Search SDS PDFs Sigma-Aldrich Thermo Fisher

Safety guides and government classification records are not a manufacturer’s SDS. Match supplier, product number, concentration, physical form, region and revision before using a document.

Identity & molecular properties

Source-linked values

CAS number	78-98-8	ChEBI ↗
Molecular formula	C₃H₄O₂	ChEBI ↗
Molar mass	72.063 g/mol	ChEBI ↗
Monoisotopic mass	72.02113 Da	ChEBI ↗
Formal charge	0	ChEBI ↗
ChEBI identifier	CHEBI:17158	ChEBI ↗

Cross-source molecular data

PubChem

Molar mass	72.06 g/mol	PubChem ↗
Exact mass	72.021129366 Da	PubChem ↗
Computed XLogP	-0.4	PubChem ↗
Topological polar surface area (Å²)	34.1	PubChem ↗
H-bond donors	0	PubChem ↗
H-bond acceptors	2	PubChem ↗
Rotatable bonds	1	PubChem ↗

PubChem computed values are shown separately from the ChEBI record. An exact InChIKey match was used to connect the records. Molecular descriptors do not describe a supplied product’s purity, particle size or performance.

Names & structural identifiers

Copy any identifier

Source preferred name

methylglyoxal

IUPAC name

2-oxopropanal

InChIKey

AIJULSRZWUXGPQ-UHFFFAOYSA-N

SMILES

[H]C(=O)C(C)=O

InChI

InChI=1S/C3H4O2/c1-3(5)2-4/h2H,1H3

Names & synonyms

2-oxopropanal

Names are supplied by ChEBI. Trade names and related synonyms may describe a broader product context.

Classification & relationships

ChEBI ontology

propanalsChEBI parent class · 26282 ↗2-oxo aldehydeChEBI parent class · 27659 ↗

ketone aldehyde organic molecular entity

Roles recorded in ChEBI

mouse metaboliteSaccharomyces cerevisiae metaboliteEscherichia coli metabolitehuman metabolite

Database role annotations describe reported biological or chemical roles; they are not product approvals or recommendations for use.

Mass ↔ amount of substance

Calculated from sourced mass

Amount

Input unit

Equivalent amount

0.0138767 mol

Uses 72.063 g/mol from ChEBI. Assumes the substance described by this record; no purity or concentration correction is applied.

Elemental composition

Theoretical mass fractions

C

Carbon · 3 atoms

50.00%

O

Oxygen · 2 atoms

44.40%

H

Hydrogen · 4 atoms

5.60%

Calculated theoretical mass fractions from the reported formula and PubChem periodic-table atomic masses. These are not assay or purity results.

Research & patent references

Selected source associations

Methylglyoxal modification of protein. Chemical and immunochemical characterization of methylglyoxal-arginine adducts. ↗The Journal of biological chemistry · 1999 Jun 25 · PMID 10373458

Methylglyoxal induces apoptosis in Jurkat leukemia T cells by activating c-Jun N-terminal kinase. ↗Journal of cellular biochemistry · 2000 Mar · PMID 10723098

Search PubMed Google Scholar

Sources & record history

Checked 27 Sep 2026

Identity, formula, mass, synonyms & ontologyEMBL-EBI ChEBI · CHEBI:17158

Release 255, 9 September 2026. ChEBI three-star (manually annotated) source entry. View original record ↗ · CC BY 4.0

Additional molecular descriptorsNCBI PubChem · CID 880 · retrieved 2026-09-27

PubCAS formats source data, connects references and computes explicitly labelled conversions. CAS cross-references are supplied by ChEBI; they do not constitute CAS verification or endorsement.

How this record was assembled Suggest a correction