Everything about N-butane totally explained
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Butane, also called
n-butane, is the unbranched
alkane with four
carbon atoms, CH
3CH
2CH
2CH
3.
Butane is also used as a collective term for
n-butane together with its only other
isomer,
isobutane (also called methylpropane), CH(CH
3)
3.
Butanes are highly flammable, colorless, odorless, easily
liquefied gases. The name butane comes from the roots
but- and
-ane.
Image:Butane-2D-Skeletal.svg|n-Butane
Image:I-Butane-2D-Skeletal.svg|Isobutane
Reactions and uses
When oxygen is plentiful, butane burns to form
carbon dioxide and water vapor; when oxygen is limited, carbon (soot) or carbon monoxide may also be formed.
» 2 C
4H
10 + 13 O
2 → 8 CO
2 + 10 H
2O
n-Butane is the feedstock for
DuPont's catalytic process for the preparation of
maleic anhydride:
» 2 CH
3CH
2CH
2CH
3 + 7O
2 → 2 C
2H
2(CO)
2O + 8 H
2O
n-Butane, like all hydrocarbons, undergoes
free radical chlorination providing both 1-chloro- and 2-chlorobutanes, as well as more highly chlorinated derivatives. The relative rates of the chlorination is partially explained by the differing
bond dissociation energies, 425 and 411
kJ/mol for the two types of C-H bonds. The two central carbon atoms have the slightly weaker C-H bonds.
Butane gas is sold bottled as a fuel for cooking and camping. When blended with
propane and other hydrocarbons, it's referred to commercially as
LPG. It is also used as a petrol component, as a feedstock for the production of base petrochemicals in steam cracking, as fuel for
cigarette lighters and as a
propellant in
aerosol sprays such as
deodorants.
Very pure forms of butane, especially isobutane, can be used as
refrigerants and have largely replaced the
ozone layer depleting
halomethanes, for instance in household refrigerators and freezers. The flammability of butane isn't a major issue because the amount of butane in an appliance isn't enough to cause a combustible mix given the amount of air in a room. The system operating pressure for butane is lower than for the halomethanes, such as
R-12, so R-12 systems such as in automotive air conditioning systems, when converted to butane won't function optimally.
Effects and health issues
Inhalation of butane can cause
euphoria,
drowsiness,
narcosis,
asphyxia,
cardiac arrhythmia and
frostbite, which can result in death from
asphyxiation and
ventricular fibrillation. Butane is the most commonly misused volatile substance in the UK, and was the cause of 52% of "solvent related" deaths in 2000. By spraying butane directly into the throat, the jet of fluid can cool rapidly to –20 °C by expansion, causing prolonged
laryngospasm. "
Sudden Sniffer's Death syndrome", first described by Bass in 1970, is the most common single cause of "solvent related" death, resulting in 55% of known fatal cases.
[Further Information]
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