Definition of propylene in US English:

noun

• A gaseous hydrocarbon of the alkene series, made by cracking alkanes.

  Alternative name: propene; chemical formula: C₃H₆

  Example sentences

  • ‘Specimens were dehydrated in a graded series of ethyl alcohol and propylene oxide solutions and embedded in araldite.’
  • ‘New metallocene catalysts are used in the preparation of new plastics, including new methods for the polymerization of alkenes such as ethylene and propylene.’
  • ‘He used a catalyst discovered by Karl Ziegler to produce polypropylene from propylene.’
  • ‘Another major epoxide, propylene oxide, comes from propene reacting with organic hydroperoxides (more reactive equivalents of hydrogen peroxides).’
  • ‘Isopropyl alcohol is made from propylene, a petroleum derivative.’