Butyl butyrate, or butyl butanoate, is an

organic compound In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. The ...

that is an

ester In chemistry, an ester is a compound derived from an oxoacid (organic or inorganic) in which at least one hydroxyl group () is replaced by an alkoxy group (), as in the substitution reaction of a carboxylic acid and an alcohol. Glycerides ar ...

formed by the condensation of

butyric acid Butyric acid (; from grc, βούτῡρον, meaning "butter"), also known under the systematic name butanoic acid, is a straight-chain alkyl carboxylic acid with the chemical formula CH3CH2CH2CO2H. It is an oily, colorless liquid with an unple ...

and ''n''-butanol. It is a clear, colorless liquid that is insoluble in water, but miscible with

ethanol Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl ...

and

diethyl ether Diethyl ether, or simply ether, is an organic compound in the ether class with the formula , sometimes abbreviated as (see Pseudoelement symbols). It is a colourless, highly volatile, sweet-smelling ("ethereal odour"), extremely flammable liq ...

. Its

refractive index In optics, the refractive index (or refraction index) of an optical medium is a dimensionless number that gives the indication of the light bending ability of that medium. The refractive index determines how much the path of light is bent, or ...

is 1.406 at 20 °C.

Aroma

Like other volatile esters, butyl butyrate has a pleasant aroma. It is used in the flavor industry to create sweet fruity flavors that are similar to that of pineapple. It occurs naturally in many kinds of fruit including apple, banana, berries, pear, plum, and strawberry.

Safety

It is a marine pollutant.BUTYL BUTYRATE
at the site cameochemicals.noaa.gov It mildly irritates the eyes and skin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butyl Butyrate Butyrate esters Flavors Butyl compounds