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Acrylonitrile is the raw stock for polyester, not mentioned in the article.--McTrixie 03:22, 11 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

May 4th a cargo train transporting acrylonitrile derailed, caught fire and several carriages exploded near wetteren. Nobody was injured in the crash, fire, or explosions, but one person died of fumes presumably traveling through the sewage system. 49 others were also treated for various levels of intoxication. I'm not sure this belongs in this article, especially since it's still a developing story, and because the damage is likely caused by resulting compounds after oxidation and extinguishing attempts. However it may be useful to source future additions to the health section.[1] Pinfix (talk) 19:30, 7 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

This puzzles me. Acrylonitrile is a naturally occurring chemical (not made by humans), so would it be more correct and less misleading to rename the section "Industrial Production"?

I come here from researching this article: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ultracold-resistant-chemical-on-titan-could-allow-it-to-harbor-life/ My question was "How do chemicals like acrylonitrile arise naturally biochemically?" And this question is not answered in this article, but only how it is isolated industrially. Kortoso (talk) 18:30, 4 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Well, we could also relabel the section "Terrestrial production". The point is that Wikipedia emphasizes mainstream information. You can be reasonably assured that 99.99% of the acrylonitrile you'll encounter is from a factory. But your point is well taken - almost all simple chemical compounds exist somewhere in nature, often in the interstellar medium. Sometimes articles mention that information, especially if it is described in a general source, see WP:SECONDARY. --Smokefoot (talk) 22:17, 4 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

We see under methanol:

"Methanol is produced naturally in the anaerobic metabolism of many varieties of bacteria, and is commonly present in small amounts in the environment. As a result, there is a small fraction of methanol vapor in the atmosphere. Over the course of several days, atmospheric methanol is oxidized with the help of sunlight to carbon dioxide and water."

Many articles about chemicals seem to focus on one aspect (such as industrial refinement) to the exclusion of others. I'll see if I can dig something up.

Kortoso (talk) 16:49, 5 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Re "articles about chemicals seem to focus on one aspect (such as industrial refinement) to the exclusion of others" Response: the focus exists because many or most compounds of commerce are produced industrially, almost exclusively. Methanol is produced biologically (but not on a scale competitive with industrial routes) and its biochemical role is rather narrow as well, being produced by only a few organisms under special conditions. Acrylonitrile is not, at least on this planet, produced by any routes other than those used by heavy industry. Chemistry editors are highly attentive to WP:UNDUE, which means the articles emphasize mainstream information vs anecdotes and niche app's. Many people are fascinated by interstellar molecules and prebiotic theories, which are intriguing, but pretty fringe in the society in which we live. --Smokefoot (talk) 19:16, 5 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The dispute is that Wikipedia rarely cites emerging technologies submitted with attributions to some institute. It's just WP:UNDUE and overall hype. My guess is that WP:COI applies as well. I just do not think that encouragement should be offered under such suspect circumstances. --Smokefoot (talk) 14:32, 24 January 2017 (UTC)[reply]