Novel Chem

Tert-Butyl alcohol, also called tert-butanol or t-butanol, is the simplest tertiary alcohol, with a formula of (CH3)3COH (sometimes represented as t-BuOH). It is one of the four isomers of butanol.

tert-Butyl alcohol is a colorless solid, which melts near room temperature and has a camphor-like odor. It is miscible with water, ethanol and diethyl ether.

tert-Butyl alcohol is derived commercially from isobutane as a coproduct of propylene oxide production. It can also be produced by the catalytic hydration of isobutylene, or by a Grignard reaction between acetone and methylmagnesium chloride.
Purification cannot be performed by simple distillation due to formation of an azeotrope with water, although initial drying of the solvent containing large amounts of water is performed by adding benzene to form a tertiary azeotrope and distilling off the water. Smaller amounts of water are removed by drying with calcium oxide (CaO), potassium carbonate (K2CO3), calcium sulfate (CaSO4), or magnesium sulfate (MgSO4), followed by fractional distillation. Anhydrous tert-butyl alcohol is obtained by further refluxing and distilling from magnesium activated with iodine, or alkali metals such as sodium or potassium. Other methods include the use of 4 Å molecular sieves, aluminium tert-butylate, calcium hydride (CaH2), or fractional crystallization under inert atmosphere


Applications:
tert-Butyl alcohol is used as a solvent, ethanol denaturant, paint remover ingredient, and gasoline octane booster and oxygenate. It is a chemical intermediate used to produce methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE) by reaction with methanol and ethanol, respectively, and tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) by reaction with hydrogen peroxide.