Tetrabutylammonium chloride

Catalog NumberHG1112670

CAS Number1112-67-0

CategoryCationic Surfactants

Synonyms

1-Butanaminium, N,N,N-tributyl-, chloride (1:1)

Molecular Weight

277.92

Molecular Formula

C16H36ClN

Appearance

Solid

Application

Use as antistatic agent.; Use as phase transfer catalyst.; Use as emulsifying agent, dispersing agent.

Active Content

95%

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Case Study

Tetrabutylammonium Chloride as a Green Selective Collector for Quartz in Reverse Phosphate Flotation

Alsafasfeh, Ashraf. Current Research in Green and Sustainable Chemistry 10 (2025): 100461.

Tetrabutylammonium chloride (TBAC), a quaternary ammonium salt, was introduced as a novel green collector for selectively removing silicate minerals from phosphate ores by reverse flotation.
Experimental Protocol: Quartz (99%) and apatite (96+%) were treated with 1 × 10^-3 M TBAC in 10% suspensions stirred for 30 min; adsorption was probed by FTIR, XPS, zeta potential (pH 3-11, 0.1 wt% mineral in 0.1 M KCl) and contact angle. Hallimond-tube microflotation (200 mL, 50 cm³/min N₂, 8 psi) used 1 g mineral (+100 to -200 µm) at pH 7, 9 and 11 with 50-150 g/ton TBAC for 2-6 min and was compared with dodecylamine (DA).
Performance Evaluation: TBAC adsorbed preferentially on quartz: new C-H (~2800 cm^-1) and C-N (~1250 cm^-1) FTIR peaks and an N 1s peak at 401.5 eV appeared only on quartz. Zeta shifts at pH 11 were +16.28 mV for quartz versus +0.4 mV for apatite, and quartz contact angles exceeded 115°. Maximum quartz recovery reached 97.8% at pH 11 and 150 g/ton TBAC, while apatite recovery was only 31.6%; DA instead recovered 52.4% apatite versus 25.3% for TBAC.

Tetrabutylammonium Chloride-Based Deep Eutectic Solvent for Extractive Fuel Desulfurization: Molecular Dynamics Insights

Shah, Dhawal, et al. Journal of Molecular Liquids 274 (2019): 254-260.

Tetrabutylammonium chloride (TBAC) served as the hydrogen-bond-acceptor component of a metal-based deep eutectic solvent (MDES) studied for extractive desulfurization of liquid fuels.
Experimental Protocol: All-atom molecular dynamics simulations modeled TBAC:PEG-200:FeCl₃ at a 4:1:0.05 molar ratio-reported to give the highest efficiency-together with model oil of n-octane containing dibenzothiophene (DBT) at ~2000, 5000 and 9000 ppm, plus thiophene (TP) and benzothiophene (BT). Systems were energy-minimized, equilibrated (NVT/NPT, 0.2 ns at 25 °C and 1 bar) and simulated for 10 ns, analysing the last 2 ns; temperatures of 25, 60 and 100 °C and altered DES compositions were tested.
Performance Evaluation: PEG-PEG hydrogen bonds fell from ~220 ± 20 to almost zero while ~180 ± 5 PEG-Cl bonds formed, explaining the melting-point depression. Mixing DES with fuel lowered octane-DBT interaction energy from -182.0 to -75.8 kJ/mol while DBT-DES reached -157.2 kJ/mol (S = 2.07), with the TBA ion contributing most. Efficiency fell as temperature rose (S = 2.07 at 25 °C, 1.88 at 60 °C, 1.07 at 100 °C) and was highest for BT (S = 2.64) over DBT (2.07) and TP (1.57); removing FeCl₃ dropped S to 0.89, confirming its essential role.

Tetrabutylammonium Chloride as a Non-Toxic Solvent for Chromium-Catalyzed Glucose-to-HMF Conversion

Jadhav, Harishandra, et al. Tetrahedron Letters 53.8 (2012): 983-985.

Tetrabutylammonium chloride (TBAC) was evaluated as a cheaper, non-toxic solvent replacing imidazolium ionic liquids in the conversion of D-glucose into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a key biofuel and chemical intermediate.
Experimental Protocol: D-Glucose was dissolved in TBAC (melting point 83-86 °C), TBAC/DMA (1:2) or [Bmim]Cl and treated with catalysts (CrCl₂, CrCl₃·6H₂O, boric acid, H₂SO₄, HCl, SrCl₂, ZnCl₂, or H-ZSM-5 zeolite with Si/Al 50:1) at 10 mol% loading relative to glucose, stirring at 110 °C for 4 h. HMF was isolated by flash chromatography and confirmed by ¹H and ¹³C NMR.
Performance Evaluation: The acidic zeolite H-ZSM-5 gave a 45% isolated HMF yield in [Bmim]Cl, the best chromium-free result. In TBAC, CrCl₂ gave the highest yields: 56% in TBAC/DMA (1:2) and 54% in pure TBAC, while CrCl₃·6H₂O afforded 52% and 49%. Boric acid reached 29%, protic acids only 5-10% (H₂SO₄ 5%, HCl 10%), and SrCl₂/ZnCl₂ under 2%. TBAC thus delivered HMF yields of 50-55% as an environmentally friendlier alternative to the imidazolium solvent.

• Synonyms: 1-Butanaminium, N,N,N-tributyl-, chloride (1:1)
• Molecular Weight: 277.92
• Molecular Formula: C16H36ClN
• Appearance: Solid
• Application: Use as antistatic agent.; Use as phase transfer catalyst.; Use as emulsifying agent, dispersing agent.
• Active Content: 95%