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acetonitrile

American

[as-i-toh-nahy-tril, -treel, uh-see-toh-] / ˌæs ɪ toʊˈnaɪ trɪl, -tril, əˌsi toʊ- /

noun

Chemistry.

a colorless, poisonous, water-soluble liquid, C 2 H 3 N, having an etherlike odor: used chiefly in organic synthesis and as a solvent.

Etymology

Origin of acetonitrile

First recorded in 1865–70; aceto- + nitrile

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

acetonitrile

The team used acetonitrile to extract PAHs from food samples, then tested several purification strategies involving different combinations of sorbents.

From Science Daily ● May 22, 2026

To perform the analysis, the researchers used acetonitrile to extract PAHs before purifying the samples with several combinations of sorbents.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 1, 2025

After that, he’ll add in other organic compounds of interest, like acetonitrile or benzene.

From New York Times ● Dec. 28, 2021

A useful solvent that will dissolve salts as well as organic compounds is the compound acetonitrile, H3CCN.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019

Gel slices were cut into small pieces, dehydrated and rehydrated in acetonitrile and distilled H2O, respectively.

From Nature ● Apr. 4, 2014

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023