General Description
A clear colorless liquid. Flash point 76°F. Less dense than water. Vapors heavier than air. Produces toxic oxides of nitrogen during combustion. Used in the manufacture of other chemicals.
Reactivity Profile
BUTYRONITRILE(109-74-0) can react vigorously with oxidizing reagents, when heated to decomposition, BUTYRONITRILE(109-74-0) emits highly toxic fumes of cyanides and oxides of nitrogen [Sax, 9th ed., 1996, p. 609]. Nitriles may polymerize in the presence of metals and some metal compounds. They are incompatible with acids; mixing nitriles with strong oxidizing acids can lead to extremely violent reactions. Nitriles are generally incompatible with other oxidizing agents such as peroxides and epoxides. The combination of bases and nitriles can produce hydrogen cyanide. Nitriles are hydrolyzed in both aqueous acid and base to give carboxylic acids (or salts of carboxylic acids). These reactions generate heat. Peroxides convert nitriles to amides. Nitriles can react vigorously with reducing agents. Acetonitrile and propionitrile are soluble in water, but nitriles higher than propionitrile have low aqueous solubility. They are also insoluble in aqueous acids.
Air & Water Reactions
Highly flammable. Slightly soluble in water.
Hazard
Flammable, dangerous fire risk.
Health Hazard
Dizziness, rapid respirations, headache, drowsiness, drop in blood pressure and pulse, delayed symptoms. May cause cyanosis (blue-grey coloring of skin and lips due to lack of oxygen)
Fire Hazard
Special Hazards of Combustion Products: Toxic cyanide fumes
Chemical Properties
colourless liquid
Chemical Properties
n-Butyronitrile has a sharp suffocating odor. Forms cyanide
in the body.
Definition
ChEBI: A nitrile that is hydrogen cyanide in which the hydrogen has been replaced by a propyl group.
Production Methods
n-Butyronitrile is prepared from 1-butanol by controlled cyanation with NH3 at
300°C in the presence of Ni-Al203 or zinc phosphide catalysts.
Flammability and Explosibility
Highlyflammable
Industrial uses
n-Butyronitrile is used as an industrial solvent, an intermediate in the chemical industry and in poultry medicines.
Purification Methods
Treat it with conc HCl until the smell of the isonitrile had gone, then dry with K2CO3 and fractionally distil [Turner J Chem Soc 1681 1956]. Alternatively it is twice heated at 75o and stirred for several hours with a mixture of 7.7g Na2CO3 and 11.5g KMnO4 per L of butyronitrile. The mixture is cooled, then distilled. The middle fraction is dried over activated alumina. [Schoeller & Wiemann J Am Chem Soc 108 22 1986, Beilstein 2 IV 806.]
Waste Disposal
Burning in a chemical incinerator equipped with an afterburner and scrubber is the most effective way to destroy the compound. Oxidation with ethanolic–KOH can convert butyronitrile to nonhazardous cyanate.
