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Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is a clear, colourless liquid with ether-like smell.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is usually produced by a reaction of ethylene oxide with butyl alcohol, but it may also be made by the reaction of ethylene glycol with dibutyl sulphate.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is widely used as a solvent in protective surface coatings such as spray lacquers, quick-dry lacquers, enamels, varnishes, and latex paints.
CAS: 111-76-2
MF: C6H14O2
MW: 118.17
EINECS: 203-905-0
Synonyms
2-(1-butoxy)ethanol;2-be;2-Butossi-etanolo;2-Butoxy-1-ethanol;2-Butoxy-aethanol;2-Butoxyethan-1-ol;2-butoxy-ethano;2-butoxyethanol (butyl cellosolve)
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is also used as an ingredient in paint thinners and strippers, varnish removers, agricultural chemicals, herbicides, silicon caulks, cutting oils, and hydraulic fluids and as metal cleaners, fabric dyes and inks, industrial and household cleaners (as a degreaser), and dry-cleaning compounds.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is also used in liquid soaps and in cosmetics.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether acetate has been reported to be present in air, water, and soil as a contaminant and exposure to it occurs during its manufacture and use as an intermediate in the chemical industry, and during the formulation and use of its products in multiple industrial activities.
The acetate form of Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is 2-butoxyethanol acetate and also known as ethylene glycol monobutyl ether acetate.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is a primary alcohol that is ethanol in which one of the methyl hydrogens is replaced by a butoxy group.
A high-boiling (171℃) colourless liquid, it is used as a solvent for paints and inks, as well as in some dry cleaning solutions.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether has a role as a protic solvent.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is a primary alcohol and a glycol ether.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is an organic compound with the chemical formula BuOC2H4OH (Bu = CH3CH2CH2CH2).
This colorless liquid has a sweet, ether-like odor, as Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether derives from the family of glycol ethers, and is a butyl ether of ethylene glycol.
As a relatively nonvolatile, inexpensive solvent, Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is used in many domestic and industrial products because of its properties as a surfactant.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is a known respiratory irritant and can be acutely toxic, but animal studies did not find it to be mutagenic, and no studies suggest it is a human carcinogen.
A study of 13 classroom air contaminants conducted in Portugal reported a statistically significant association with increased rates of nasal obstruction and a positive association below the level of statistical significance with a higher risk of obese asthma and increased body mass index.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether Chemical Properties
Melting point: -70 °C
Boiling point: 171 °C
Density: 0.902 g/mL at 25 °C(lit.)
Vapor density: 4.1 (vs air)
Vapor pressure: <1 mm Hg ( 20 °C)
Refractive index: n20/D 1.419(lit.)
Fp: 140 °F
Storage temp.: Store below +30°C.
Solubility: 900g/l completely miscible
Form: Liquid
Pka: 14.42±0.10(Predicted)
Color: Clear
PH: 7 (H2O, 20℃)(as aqueous solution)
Odor: Mild, characteristic; slightly rancid; mild ethereal.
Odor Threshold: 0.043ppm
Explosive limit: 1.1-10.6%(V)
Water Solubility: miscible
λmax λ: 230 nm Amax: 1.0
λ: 250 nm Amax: 0.10
λ: 275 nm Amax: 0.05
λ: 300-400 nm Amax: 0.01
Merck: 14,1559
BRN: 1732511
Henry's Law Constant: (x 10-6 atm?m3/mol): 2.36 (approximate - calculated from water solubility and vapor pressure)
Exposure limits TLV-TWA skin 25 ppm (121 mg/m3) (ACGIH), 50 ppm (242 mg/m3) (OSHA); STEL 75 ppm (363 mg/m3) (ACGIH);IDLH 700 ppm (NIOSH). .
Dielectric constant: 5.2999999999999998
LogP: 0.81 at 20℃
CAS DataBase Reference: 111-76-2(CAS DataBase Reference)
NIST Chemistry Reference: Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether(111-76-2)
IARC: 3 (Vol. 88) 2006
EPA Substance Registry System: Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether (111-76-2)
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is a clear colorless liquid with an ether-like smell and belongs to the family of glycol ether/alkoxy alcohol.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is miscible in water and soluble in most organic solvents.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether does not occur naturally.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is usually produced by reacting ethylene oxide with butyl alcohol.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is used as a solvent for nitrocellulose, natural and synthetic resins, soluble oils, in surface coatings, spray lacquers, enamels, varnishes, and latex paints, as an ingredient in paint thinners, quick-dry lacquers, latex paint, and strippers, varnish removers, and herbicides.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is also used in textile dyeing and printing, in the treatment of leather, in the production of plasticizers, as a stabilizer in metal cleaners and household cleaners, and in hydraulic fl uids, insecticides, herbicides, and rust removers.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is also used as an ingredient in liquid soaps, cosmetics, industrial and household cleaners, dry-cleaning compounds, and as an ingredient in silicon caulks, cutting oils, and hydraulic fluids.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is a fire hazard when exposed to heat, sparks, or open flames.
Physical properties
Clear, colorless, oily liquid with a mild, ether-like odor.
Experimentally determined detection and recognition odor threshold concentrations were 500 μg/m3 (100 ppbv) and 1.7 mg/m3 (350 ppbv), respectively.
An odor threshold concentration of 580 ppbv was reported by Nagata and Takeuchi.
Miscibility with water
Miscibility of Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether with water depends on temperature.
Depending on the composition of the mixture, the two liquids are partially miscible.
This mixture shows both a lower and an upper critical solution temperature: below around 49 °C (lower critical solution temperature), the liquids are completely miscible.
The same is true for temperatures above around 130 °C (upper critical solution temperature).
Between these temperatures, however, the liquids do not mix in all proportions and two phases might appear, each of which is formed by various ratios of the two liquids.
Uses
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is a reagent in synthesising 4-butoxyethoxy-N-octadecyl-1,8-naphthalimide as a new fluorescent probe for determining proteins.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is also used as a reagent in synthesising 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde derivatives as tyrosinase inhibitors.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is used widely as a coupling solvent because of its superior coupling efficiency and excellent solvency for resins.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is used as a solvent for nitrocellulose, resins, oil, and grease and in dry cleaning.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is a glycol ether with modest surfactant properties, which can also be used as a mutual solvent.
Commercial uses
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is a solvent for paints and surface coatings, as well as cleaning products and inks.
Products that contain Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether include acrylic resin formulations, asphalt release agents, firefighting foam, leather protectors, oil spill dispersants, degreaser applications, photographic strip solutions, whiteboard and glass cleaners, liquid soaps, cosmetics, dry cleaning solutions, lacquers, varnishes, herbicides, latex paints, enamels, printing paste, varnish removers, and silicone caulk.
Products containing this compound are commonly found at construction sites, automobile repair shops, print shops, and facilities that produce sterilizing and cleaning products.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is the main ingredient of many home, commercial and industrial cleaning solutions.
Since the molecule has both polar and non-polar ends, Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is useful for removing both polar and non-polar substances, like grease and oils.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is also approved by the U.S. FDA to be used as direct and indirect food additives, which include antimicrobial agents, defoamers, stabilizers, and adhesives.
In the petroleum industry
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is commonly produced for the oil industry because of its surfactant properties.
In the petroleum industry, Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is a component of fracturing fluids, drilling stabilizers, and oil slick dispersants for both water-based and oil-based hydraulic fracturing.
When liquid is pumped into the well, the fracturing fluids are pumped under extreme pressure, so Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is used to stabilize them by lowering the surface tension.
As a surfactant, 2-butoxyethanol absorbs at the oil-water interface of the fracture.
The compound is also used to facilitate the release of the gas by preventing congealing.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is also used as a crude oil–water coupling solvent for more general oil well workovers.
Because of its surfactant properties, Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is a major constituent (30–60% w/w) in the oil spill dispersant Corexit 9527, which was widely used in the aftermath of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Health Hazard
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is present in a variety of consumer products, including cleaning agents and surface coatings, such as paints, lacquers, and varnishes.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is readily absorbed following inhalation, oral, and dermal exposure.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is released into air or water by different industrial activities and facilities that manu facture, process, or use the chemical.
Exposure to Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether causes irritating effects to the eyes and skin, but it has not induced skin sensitization in guinea pigs.
Information on the human health effects associated with exposure to 2-butoxyethanol is limited.
However, case studies of individuals who had attempted suicide by ingest ing Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether-containing cleaning solutions suffered poisoning with symp toms such as hemoglobinuria, erythropenia, and hypotension, metabolic acidosis, shock, non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema, and albuminuria, hepatic disorders and hematuria.
Production
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is commonly obtained through two processes; the ethoxylation reaction of butanol and ethylene oxide in the presence of a catalyst:
C2H4O + C4H9OH → C4H9OC2H4OH
or the etherification of butanol with 2-chloroethanol.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether can be obtained in the laboratory by performing a ring opening of 2-propyl-1,3-dioxolane with boron trichloride.
Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is often produced industrially by combining ethylene glycol and butyraldehyde in a Parr reactor with palladium on carbon.
In 2006, the European production of butyl glycol ethers amounted to 181 kilotons, of which approximately 50% (90 kt/a) was 2-butoxyethanol.
World production is estimated to be 200 to 500 kt/a, of which 75% is for paints and coatings and 18% for metal cleaners and household cleaners.
In the US, Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is considered a high production volume chemical because more than 100 million pounds of this chemical are produced per year.
