Uses of Butanol

Butanol or butyl alcohol (sometimes also called biobutanol when produced biologically), is a primary alcohol with a 4 carbon structure and the molecular formula of C4H9OH. It belongs to the higher alcohols and branched-chain alcohols.
It is primarily used as a solvent, as an intermediate in chemical synthesis, and as a fuel.
Like many alcohols, butanol is considered toxic. It has shown low order of toxicity in single dose experiments to laboratory animals. and is considered safe enough for use in cosmetics. Brief, repeated overexposure with the skin can result in depression of the central nervous system, as with other short-chain alcohols. Exposure may also cause severe eye irritation and moderate skin irritation. The main dangers are from prolonged exposure to fumes. In extreme cases this includes suppression of the central nervous system and even death. Under most circumstances, butanol is quickly metabolized to carbon dioxide. It has not been shown to damage DNA or cause cancer.
Uses
Butanol is considered as a potential biofuel (butanol fuel). Butanol at 85 percent strength can be used in cars designed for gasoline (petrol) without any change to the engine (unlike 85% ethanol), and it contains more energy for a given volume than ethanol and almost as much as gasoline, so a vehicle using butanol would return fuel consumption more comparable to gasoline than ethanol. Butanol can also be used as a blended additive to diesel fuel to reduce soot emissions. Butanol can be produced by using low-cost, non-food cellulostic feedstocks. Manufacturing with such renewable materials is said to release 70%-80% less greenhouse emissions compared to traditional gasoline or diesel production.
Butanol sees use as a solvent for a wide variety of chemical and textile processes, in organic synthesis and as a chemical intermediate. It is also used as a paint thinner and a solvent in other coating applications where it is used as a relatively slow evaporating latent solvent in lacquers and ambient-cured enamels. It finds other uses such as a component of hydraulic and brake fluids.
It is also used as a base for perfumes, but on its own has a highly alcoholic aroma.
Salts of butanol are chemical intermediates; for example alkali metal salts of tert-butanol are tert-butoxides.
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