Product Overview
Isobutyl Alcohol 99% ACS Grade (CAS 78-83-1) is a grade-specific branched-chain alcohol, also sold under the synonyms 2-methyl-1-propanol and isobutanol. It is a clear, colorless liquid with a sweet, musty odor, stocked and shipped daily from our warehouse in Taylor, Texas. This is the grade to specify when your work demands documented purity: HPLC mobile phase preparation, analytical extraction, pharmaceutical intermediate work, and coating formulations where an off-spec solvent shows up as a failed batch. We pack it in tightly sealed, DOT-compliant containers from quarts up to 330-gallon totes, so the same material serves a QC bench and a production floor.
Why This Concentration
At 99% assay, ACS Grade isobutyl alcohol gives you a solvent with tightly controlled impurities. That matters in two situations: analytical work, where trace contaminants create baseline noise and ghost peaks, and synthesis or extraction work, where an unknown impurity can carry through to the product. If your application is less demanding — parts cleaning, general-purpose thinning, degreasing — the ACS specification is more than you need, and our standard Isobutyl Alcohol 99% covers that work at the same concentration without the ACS-level quality documentation. Same molecule, same handling profile, different level of QC. Choose ACS Grade when the specification sheet for your process says so, or when a lot-specific certificate of analysis has to sit in your quality file.
Chemical Profile
Isobutyl alcohol carries the formula C4H10O with a molecular weight of 74.12 and CAS number 78-83-1. It presents as a clear, colorless liquid with a sweet odor. The liquid is less dense than water — 0.802 at 68 °F — so spills float rather than sink. Solubility in water runs 50 to 100 mg/mL at 61 °F, enough to make it useful in liquid-liquid extraction where partial miscibility is the point. Vapor pressure sits at 9 mmHg at 68 °F and 10 mmHg at 71.1 °F, giving it lower volatility than the lighter alcohols. Flash point falls in the 85–100 °F range, and its vapors are heavier than air — both facts drive how we pack it and how you should ventilate around it.
Industrial Applications
Buyers order this grade for a consistent set of jobs:
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HPLC mobile phase. Used as a mobile phase component in reversed-phase HPLC. The ACS specification keeps UV background and trace contaminants predictable run to run.
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Paints and coatings. A slow-evaporating alcohol solvent that improves flow and film formation in solvent-borne coating systems.
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Chemical synthesis intermediate. A building block in pharmaceutical and specialty chemical synthesis, where feedstock purity carries straight through to the product.
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Extraction medium. Its limited water miscibility makes it a working solvent for flavor and fragrance extraction, where the alcohol phase separates cleanly from the aqueous phase.
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Precision cleaning. Cuts oils and greases in manufacturing settings where a residue-controlled solvent is required.
Handling & Storage
The signal word for this product is Danger (per the product's GHS classification). Its hazard statements: flammable liquid and vapor (H226), causes skin irritation (H315), causes serious eye damage (H318), may cause respiratory irritation (H335), and may cause drowsiness or dizziness (H336), all per the product's GHS classification. Take H318 seriously — sealed splash goggles or a face shield, not just safety glasses, plus chemical-resistant gloves.
Store it cool, sealed, and away from ignition sources. With a flash point of 85–100 °F, an un-air-conditioned Texas warehouse in summer can sit above the flash point — treat storage areas accordingly and ground containers during transfer. Vapors are heavier than air and will collect low, so ventilate at floor level, not just overhead. Keep it away from strong oxidizers and acids. HDPE and glass are compatible container materials; that is what we ship it in. Our shipping and handling guidance is reviewed by Andre Taki, DOT Hazmat Specialist.
Hazmat & Shipping
This product ships as a regulated flammable liquid. It moves under UN1212 (per 49 CFR 172.101), Hazard Class 3 (per 49 CFR 172.101), Packing Group III (per 49 CFR 172.101), with the proper shipping name Isobutanol (per 49 CFR 172.101). Every container leaves Taylor, TX in UN-rated packaging with correct marks, labels, and shipping papers — we prepare hazmat shipments daily, and PG III flammables are routine freight for our dock. Quarts and gallons ship parcel in compliant packaging; drums and totes move LTL or dedicated freight.
Documentation
A Safety Data Sheet ships with every order, available in English, Spanish, French, and Japanese. A lot-specific Certificate of Analysis is available for the material you receive — the document your quality system needs to tie the drum on your dock to the assay behind it. A technical data sheet is also available for spec review before you buy.
Why Buy from Alliance Chemical
We are a chemical distributor and hazmat shipping operation, and this product is on our floor right now. Orders ship daily from Taylor, TX in DOT-compliant packaging matched to the container size — sealed quarts and gallons in tested cartons, drums and totes prepped for freight. Our handling and shipping guidance is reviewed by a DOT Hazmat Specialist, and our team answers packaging, freight, and documentation questions directly — no reseller in the middle, no waiting a week for a COA. From a single quart for the QC bench to a 330-gallon tote on a truck, it is the same material, the same paperwork discipline, and the same dock crew that handles flammable liquids every working day.
