MOLECULE

m-Xylene

1,3-Dimthyl-benzene or m-Xylene, also known as m-dimethylbenzene, belongs to the class of organic compounds known as m-xylenes. These are aromatic compounds that contain a m-xylene moiety, which is a monocyclic benzene carrying exactly two methyl groups at the 1- and 3-positions. m-Xylene (meta-xylene) is a neutral, aromatic hydrocarbon that is insoluble in water. There are three types of xylene isomers, ortho, meta and para xylene. All xylene isomers are colorless liquids and highly flammable. m-Xylene is a plastic tasting compound. It is naturally found in a number of fruits and nuts including apricots, kiwi fruit, safflower, black walnuts and parsley. Xylenes are not acutely toxic, for example the LD50 (rat, oral) is 4300 mg/kg. Petroleum or gasoline contains about 1 weight percent xylenes. The major use of meta-xylene is in the production of isophthalic acid, which is used as a copolymerizing monomer to alter the properties of polyethylene terephthalate. m-Xylene is one of the aromatic benzenoids identified in Cannabis sativa (PMID: 6991645).