Tetrabutylammonium chloride is the
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 ...
with the formula (C
4H
9)
4NCl. A white water-soluble solid, it is a
quaternary ammonium salt
In chemistry, quaternary ammonium cations, also known as quats, are positively charged polyatomic ions of the structure , R being an alkyl group or an aryl group. Unlike the ammonium ion () and the primary, secondary, or tertiary ammonium cations ...
of
chloride
The chloride ion is the anion (negatively charged ion) Cl−. It is formed when the element chlorine (a halogen) gains an electron or when a compound such as hydrogen chloride is dissolved in water or other polar solvents. Chloride salts ...
. It is a precursor to other
tetrabutylammonium
Tetrabutylammonium is a quaternary ammonium cation with the formula (C4H9)4sup>+. It is used in the research laboratory to prepare lipophilic salts of inorganic anions. Relative to tetraethylammonium derivatives, tetrabutylammonium salts are more ...
salts.
Often
tetrabutylammonium bromide
Tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) is a quaternary ammonium salt with a bromide commonly used as a phase transfer catalyst. It is used to prepare many other tetrabutylammonium salts by salt metathesis reactions. The anhydrous form is a white soli ...
is preferred as a source of tetrabutylammonium because it is less hygroscopic than the chloride.
References
Tetrabutylammonium salts
Chlorides
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