Butanol
chemical compound family
Butanol (also called butyl alcohol) is a four-carbon alcohol with a formula of C4H9OH, which occurs in five isomeric structures (four structural isomers), from a straight-chain primary alcohol to a branched-chain tertiary alcohol; all are a butyl or isobutyl group linked to a hydroxyl group (sometimes represented as BuOH, sec-BuOH, i-BuOH, and t-BuOH). These are 1-butanol, two stereoisomers of sec-butyl alcohol, isobutanol and tert-butyl alcohol. Butanol is primarily used as a solvent and as an intermediate in chemical synthesis, and may be used as a fuel. Biologically produced butanol is called biobutanol, which may be n-butanol or isobutanol.
Isomers
The unmodified term butanol usually refers to the straight chain isomer with the alcohol functional group at the terminal carbon, which is also known as 1-butanol. The straight chain isomer with the alcohol at an internal carbon is sec-butyl alcohol or 2-butanol. The branched isomer with the alcohol at a terminal carbon is isobutanol or 2-methyl-1-propanol, and the branched isomer with the alcohol at the internal carbon is tert-butyl alcohol or 2-methyl-2-propanol.
The butanol isomers have different melting and boiling points. 1-Butanol and isobutanol have limited solubility, sec-butyl alcohol has substantially greater solubility, whereas tert-butyl alcohol is miscible with water. The hydroxyl group makes the molecule polar, promoting solubility in water, while the longer hydrocarbon chain mitigates the polarity and reduces solubility.
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