Dibutyl adipate is an organic compound with chemical formula C14H26O4, colorless or light yellow transparent oily liquid. It has a special smell. It is soluble in ether and ethanol and insoluble in water. It is mainly used as plasticizer for vinyl and cellulose resins, as well as solvent and organic synthesis.
Dibutyl adipate has a wide range of applications. The following are its main application fields:
1. Plastic additives: dibutyl adipate can be used as plasticizer, stabilizer and lubricant for PVC, polypropylene, polystyrene and other plastics, and can improve the flexibility, ductility, cold resistance and weather resistance of plastics.
2. Ink: dibutyl adipate can be used as thickener and leveling agent of ink, which can improve printing performance and gloss of ink.
3. Paint: dibutyl adipate can be used as plasticizer, leveling agent and stabilizer of the paint, which can improve the adhesion and corrosion resistance of the paint.
4. Adhesives: dibutyl adipate can be used as plasticizer and lubricant of adhesives, and can improve the adhesion and ductility of adhesives.
5. Cosmetics: Dibutyl adipate can be used as a plasticizer and lubricant for lipstick, sunscreen, lipstick and other cosmetics, which can improve the texture and use experience of cosmetics.
6. Medicine: dibutyl adipate can be used as the coating agent and stabilizer of tablets, which can extend the shelf life of drugs and enhance the taste.
7. Other: dibutyl adipate can also be used as the raw material of lubricating oil, dye intermediate and other chemical products.
Dibutyl adipate can be synthesized by the following three common synthetic routes:
1. Transesterification reaction method:
Dibutyl adipate can be obtained by transesterification of n-butanol and adipic acid. The specific steps are as follows:
Step 1: add adipic acid and n-butanol into the reactor, add inert gas, heat to the reaction temperature (usually 160-180 ℃), and add transesterification catalyst (such as sodium formate), and react for 2-4 hours to obtain the product.
Step 2: distill and purify the product in the reactor to obtain dibutyl adipate.
2. Acid catalytic method:
Dibutyl adipate can also be obtained by condensation reaction of hexanone and n-butanol under the catalysis of acid. The specific steps are as follows:
Step 1: mix hexanone and n-butanol, add acid catalyst (such as sulfuric acid), and react for 2-4 hours.
Step 2: distill the reaction mixture to obtain the product.
Step 3: distill the product to obtain pure dibutyl adipate.
3. Acid anhydride synthesis method:
Dibutyl adipate can be obtained by esterification of hexanoic anhydride and n-butanol under the catalysis of acid. The specific steps are as follows:
Step 1: add hexanoic anhydride and n-butanol into the reactor, inject inert gas, add acid catalyst (such as sulfuric acid), heat to the reaction temperature (usually 120-140 ℃), and react for 2-4 hours.
Step 2: distill and purify the product in the reactor to obtain dibutyl adipate.
It should be noted that the synthesis of dibutyl adipate needs to pay attention to safety measures to avoid fire, explosion and other accidents. At the same time, in the process of industrial production, it is also necessary to consider environmental protection and resource utilization, and develop more environmentally friendly, energy-saving and efficient synthetic routes.