Butanol refers to a four-carbon alcohol, with a formula of C4H9OH. There are four possible isomeric structures for butanol, from a straight-chain primary alcohol to a branched-chain tertiary alcohol.
Density: 810.00 kg/m³, Melting point: -90 °C, Classification: Alcohol
Uses :
Biobutanol
Butanol is considered as a potential biofuel (butanol fuel). Butanol at 85 percent strength can be used in cars designed for gasoline (petrol) without any change to the engine (unlike 85% ethanol), and it contains more energy for a given volume than ethanol and almost as much as gasoline, so a vehicle using butanol would return fuel consumption more comparable to gasoline than ethanol. Butanol can also be used as a blended additive to diesel fuel to reduce soot emissions.
Other uses
Butanol sees use as a solvent for a wide variety of chemical and textile processes, in organic synthesis and as a chemical intermediate. It is also used as a paint thinner and a solvent in other coating applications where it is used as a relatively slow evaporating latent solvent in lacquers and ambient-cured enamels. It finds other uses such as a component of hydraulic and brake fluids.
It is also used as a base for perfumes, but on its own has a highly alcoholic aroma.
salts of butanol are chemical intermediates; for example, alkali metal salts of tert-butanol are tert-butoxides.