the.com/toluene
Paint thinner's smarter cousin, cleans brushes and gets you high if you're desperate enough.
means A clear, sweet-smelling liquid hydrocarbon used as an industrial solvent and a base chemical for making other compounds, from paints and adhesives to TNT.
from Named after tolu balsam, an aromatic resin from the South American tree Myroxylon balsamum, traditionally exported from the Colombian city of Santiago de Tolú. In the 1800s chemists distilled this balsam and isolated an aromatic compound from it — so it was dubbed 'toluene,' borrowing the place name Tolú plus the chemistry-suffix '-ene.' The solvent, in other words, is named after a town it just happened to be extracted near.
- origin
- distilled from tolu balsam tree resin
- octane boost
- key ingredient in high-performance racing fuel
- glue sniffing
- infamous for inhalant abuse, brain damage risk
- chemistry workhorse
- makes TNT, nylon, and polyurethane possible