furfural

[fur-fyuh-ral, -fuh-]

noun

1. a colorless, oily liquid, C 5 H 4 O 2 , having an aromatic odor, obtained from bran, sugar, wood, corncobs, or the like, by distillation: used chiefly in the manufacture of plastics and as a solvent in the refining of lubricating oils.

furfural

1. A colorless, sweet-smelling, liquid made from corncobs and used as a solvent in petroleum refining and as a fungicide and weed killer. It turns reddish brown when exposed to air and light. Furfural is an aldehyde of furan. Chemical formula: C ₅ H ₄ O ₂ .

Word History and Origins

Origin of furfural¹

1875–80; < Latin furfur bran + -al ³

Example Sentences

In fact, says Strlič, the smell is due to the release of chemicals such as furfural and hexanol as the paper itself decays.

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The researchers made their ionic liquids using furfural, vanillin and p-anisaldehyde, which are aromatic aldehydes derived from lignin and cellulose.

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Congeners include acetaldehyde itself as well as acetone, fusel oil, furfural, methanol's metabolites, polyphenols, histamines, esters, tannins, amines and amides, among others.

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Brandy also contains a certain quantity of free acid, which increases with age, furfural, which decreases, and small quantities of other matters of which we have as yet little knowledge.

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The actual production of furfural by boiling with condensing acids is a quantitative measure of only a portion, i.e. certain members of the group.

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