Talk:Propionic acid

Delisting from GA
No statement of references, so I'm delisting this article from the Good Article list. References are required to become a GA.

Diagram
I think the diagram is a bit unclear. In the first place: is it correct? It should have 3 carbons, but I see only one.


 * This is due to the "line-angle" formula style- all three are there. I will be drawing a bigger picture for this page very soon. Walkerma 16:57, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

(Minor) outstanding issues

 * Are we sure that the production of propionic acid as a byproduct of acetic acid manufacture is that minor? BP Chemicals keeps an outdated acetic acid plant near Kingston upon Hull (UK) open simply because of the high value of the byproducts (of which EtCOOH is by far the most important). Acetic acid production even by methanol carbonylation typically produces 1% EtCOOH (which would be 40 kt/a globally). Physchim62 11:00, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
 * The latest Kirk-Othmer (late 90s) says that propionaldehyde oxidation is the principal route to propionic acid, and gives the old butane oxidation route to acetic acid little more than a couple sentences. If I had to guess, I'd say the market supports a few of the old plants profitably, but not as the principal production route.  A lot of multiple-product processes face this problem; a few producers can get away with it, but the bulk of producers are unwilling to face demand uncertainty for two products rather than just one. Shimmin 12:31, July 15, 2005 (UTC)
 * Does the halogenation of propionic acid replace the methyl hydrogens or merely the methylene hydrogens: I suspect it only replaces the CH2 hydrogens. Physchim62 11:03, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
 * Halogenation alpha to the carboxyl group (-CH2-) is most likely. I do believe that halogenation of the primary carbon (CH3-) is more difficult and only possible after the alpha-carbon is fully halogenated.  Question: Why do we care about halogenation of propionic acid?  ~K 15:09, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
 * I propose we change "very minor" to "minor". The Monsanto process (which we are talking about here) is still one of the major production methods in use, according to a recent (2001?) review article, and so EtCOOH must be produced in significant quantities this way- I don't think the newer Ir/Ru process has fully displaced it by any means. I have a recent student term paper on acetic acid production at home if people need some figures. And K is right, alpha halogenation is really the only significant reaction- but I am more sure of the HVZ reaction, I amended the page accordingly- feel free to make further changes.  I think I will put together a stub on the HVZ, we need one, and the PBr3 page already has a scheme.Walkerma 16:54, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
 * Acetic acid production is about 5.5 Mt/a, of which about 3.5 Mt/a is by the Monsanto process and 1 Mt/a by Cativa (Ir/Ru). This gves a figure of about 40 kt/a EtCOOH as a Monsanto byproduct and over 100 kt/a from the two butane oxidation plants mentioned above. The question is: what is the annual consumption of propionic acid? 1000 kt/a (wild guess)? Physchim62 15:42, 16 July 2005 (UTC)

Merge request
I request you NOT merge the Propionic acid chemdata supplement with propionic acid. If you feel you have a valid reason to merge them, please discuss it with the WikiProject Chemicals. ~K 05:50, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

propionic acid linked to autism
A study from the University of Western Ontario has found that propionic acid may be a trigger for autism and that cutting out foods with propionic acid (especially dairy and wheat) benefits people with the disorder.

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/09/27/autism-study.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rathmussen (talk • contribs) 03:09, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

June 20, 2019 - A study from the University of Central Florida examines what happens when neural stem cells are exposed to high levels of propionic acid commonly found in processed foods.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/06/190620121415.htm — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:442:4400:1130:1163:2F4D:33A0:79E9 (talk) 13:50, 23 June 2019 (UTC)

Propionic Acid increases HDL levels
Propionic acid induces the expression of nuclear receptors PPARα: a potential effect on HDL level.

Ibuprofen, which has been shown to raise HDL levels in healthy individuals, is a derivative of propionic acid. Because of this, researches examined the effects PPARα mRNA expression with propionic levels and concluded that propionic acid may play an important role in PPARα mRNA expression, with further effects on HDL levels. Propionic acid is produced during bacterial fermentation of fiber in the human colon and the researchers observed that L. plantarum 299v diet supplementation significantly increased HDL cholesterol in healthy subjects. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.16.25.19 (talk) 05:15, 23 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Well if you have a review that discusses this effect, please include that material into the article. Usually Wikipedia is not vying to become a forum for cutting edge research, especially in the biomedical areas. --Smokefoot (talk) 14:32, 13 July 2014 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Propanoate which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 21:00, 20 December 2014 (UTC)

Name confusion?!
The article identifier is Propionic acid but the first phrase says "Propanoic acid (also known as propionic acid..." Robbie0630 (talk) 20:56, 9 February 2015 (UTC)
 * I have reworded it. Hopefully it is more consistent and less confusing now.  -- Ed (Edgar181) 21:14, 9 February 2015 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 03:27, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

Traditional name favoured over preferred IUPAC name?
This is something that has been bothering me about this page for some time. For most organic compounds Wikipedia uses the preferred IUPAC name for the page title, but for propanoic acid (and a few of its derivatives/related compounds), the traditional name with the "propio" prefix is used. Surely we should be consistent with how we decide upon which name to favour on articles and in titles, particularly since the preferred IUPAC names are likely to become the most commonly used names over time? Trainer Alex (talk) 15:31, 8 March 2019 (UTC)
 * Tell that to ethanoic acid. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.  The article should be titled under its most common name.  If this is not the most common name at some undetermined time in the future, we can re-address this then.  Being correct and useful is far more important than being consistent.  -- Jayron 32 17:24, 8 March 2019 (UTC)
 * Er, ok I guess, but I'm not sure what the ethanoic acid page has to do with this, we are using the preferred name for that. Trainer Alex (talk) 11:25, 9 March 2019 (UTC)
 * For me, the so-called "traditional" name is an archaic name. I graduated in 1993 and have NEVER used propionic acid - only propanoic acid. "most common name"??? Seriously, who calls it "propionic"??? Could we please use the internationally recognised name?  Calling it propionic feels like Wikipedia hasn't caught up with modern science and is trying to keep English speakers in the 20th century. It is also incredibly lazy not to use the current standard name. Jklsc (talk) 22:18, 23 August 2020 (UTC)

MedRS and ref's in general
excerpted from WP:MEDRS:

Key point: reviews and books.

"Latifa S. Abdelli; Aseela Samsam; Saleh A. Naser (19 June 2019). "Propionic Acid Induces Gliosis and Neuro-inflammation through Modulation of PTEN/AKT Pathway in Autism Spectrum Disorder". Nature (journal). 9 (1). doi:10.1038/s41598-019-45348-z. Abdelli2019. Retrieved 24 June 2019. Clearly, the data supports a significant role for PPA in modulating hNSC patterning leading to gliosis, disturbed neuro-circuitry, and inflammatory response as seen in ASD." The article is not a review or a textbook. It is NOT published in Nature. Its in Scientific Reports.

Here is how Scientific Reports describes itself (https://www.nature.com/srep/publish): "Scientific Reports gets your work reviewed quickly, and publishes all sound science to an international audience. Find more reasons to publish in this section." Translation for nontechnical readers: Scientific Reports publishes stuff that is not good enough to get into a real journal.

--Smokefoot (talk) 13:02, 24 June 2019 (UTC)


 * I agree with Smokefoot that the content isn't currently appropriate for the article, based on this reference. In general, medical-related content on Wikipedia should not rely on preliminary research where the implications for human health are currently unknown.  That is clearly the case with this report.  -- Ed (Edgar181) 13:39, 24 June 2019 (UTC)

How is it used?
I had to read far down into the article to find any mention of how we use the large amounts that are produced industrially. A summary of significant uses has been added to the lede. Piperh (talk) 08:32, 13 July 2024 (UTC)