Diacetyl

Diacetyl, or butane-2,3-dione, is a volatile yellowish organic compound with a buttery odor. It is a natural flavor molecule and an industrial chemical.

2,3-Butanedione: The IUPAC name for diacetyl, a four-carbon diketone with adjacent carbonyl groups. This systematic name identifies the same molecule by its structure.
Lactic acid fermentation: A metabolic pathway in which microbes convert sugars into lactic acid. Fermenting microbes can produce diacetyl as a secondary flavor compound.
Food flavoring: The use of substances to add or modify flavor in foods. Diacetyl’s buttery aroma makes it useful in flavor formulations.
Popcorn workers' lung: A common name for severe small-airway disease reported among some popcorn-manufacturing workers. The disease became associated with workplace exposure to diacetyl-containing flavorings.
Diketone: An organic compound containing two ketone functional groups. Diacetyl is the simplest commonly encountered example of an adjacent diketone.
Carbonyl group: A functional group containing a carbon atom double-bonded to oxygen. Diacetyl’s two carbonyl groups give it characteristic chemical reactivity.
Citrate fermentation: Microbial metabolism that uses citrate as a carbon source and can generate aroma compounds. Citrate metabolism is a major route to diacetyl in cultured dairy products.
Microwave popcorn: Popcorn packaged for cooking in a microwave oven, often with added flavoring oils. Diacetyl was used in some butter-flavored formulations, prompting worker-safety concerns.
Bronchiolitis obliterans: A rare, serious disease in which scar tissue narrows or blocks the small airways. It is the clinical condition underlying reports of popcorn workers’ lung.
Butanone: A four-carbon ketone with one carbonyl group, also called methyl ethyl ketone. It shares a four-carbon framework but lacks diacetyl’s second carbonyl group.

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