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Acetyltributyl citrate draws attention in the chemical and pharmaceutical world as a non-toxic plasticizer, often used for its ability to provide flexibility without introducing harmful elements. You find it under the chemical formula C20H34O8, known in the industry simply as ATBC. This material features three butyl groups and an acetyl group bonded to citric acid, creating a chemistry that stands out for non-volatility and low migration. Its molecular weight lands at 402.48 g/mol, which matters both in storage and calculation for pharmaceutical batches. Many people think of plasticizers as background substances, but when it comes to pharmaceutical packaging, medical devices, and personal care materials, safety and purity hit the center of the conversation. Personally, seeing ATBC on an ingredient list gives some reassurance, considering the alternatives sitting in the chemical family.
On the shelf, Acetyltributyl citrate shows up as a clear, colorless to pale yellow oily liquid at room temperature, carrying a faint odor that leads you to guess its chemical lineage. Its density hovers around 1.05 g/cm³ at 20°C, which means it sits comfortably between lighter oils and water, easy to handle but not prone to unnecessary evaporation. The structure of ATBC, with its ester bonds, pushes the boiling point rather high, beyond 200°C, making it stable under common processing conditions. You won’t find it as flakes, powders, or crystals—its physical state suits handling and blending in production facilities. A few years back, I visited a plant where ATBC ran through steel pipes, and the ease of pumping liquid plasticizer with no crystallization even on cooler days made a big difference to efficiency.
Producing Acetyltributyl citrate to British Pharmacopoeia (BP), European Pharmacopoeia (EP), and United States Pharmacopeia (USP) standards brings some reassurance on purity, with each batch needing to clear high expectations regarding water content, heavy metal traces, and residual solvents. The product lands as a pharmaceutical-grade plasticizer with purity often hitting above 99%. The specification sheet often includes acid value, water content, refractive index, and color by APHA scale—all indicators of production consistency and cleanliness. Questions about contamination and safety always rise in conversations about pharmaceutical and food additives, yet every standard proves its worth in human health protection. These tight specs translate into fewer product recalls, longer shelf life, and easier cross-border movement of packaged medicines.
For all the regulatory paperwork and logistics, Acetyltributyl citrate tracks under the Harmonized System (HS) code 2918.16. This system classification makes a direct difference in import duties and paperwork required by customs. Speaking from experience, clarity in HS classification streamlines material imports into a manufacturing country. Mistakes in this code bring higher costs or months of delay due to customs scrutiny, so nailing down the right code matters for procurement teams. ATBC’s global presence comes from this clarity, letting manufacturers in pharma, food contact, and cosmetics move raw materials quickly, without excess documentation or scrutiny.
This plasticizer doesn’t give off a strong odor nor carry significant volatility, reducing exposure risks for factory workers. Reliable technical sources document that ATBC stays out of the hazardous chemical lists of many regulatory agencies, because mammalian toxicity remains low and environmental data pulls up relatively positive. It’s not flammable under common storage, and its stable ester structure avoids rapid degradation. In terms of acute toxicity, the LD50 in rats sits higher than 6000 mg/kg, which falls in line with safe daily exposures for humans in pharmaceuticals and food packaging. Still, chemical safety data suggests sensible precautions—avoiding inhalation of mist, keeping skin covered, and aiming for good ventilation. While ATBC doesn’t attract reproductive or carcinogenic warnings, proper handling stops unexpected allergies or skin dryness that sometimes occur in production plants.
Known as a prime alternative to phthalate plasticizers, Acetyltributyl citrate shapes up in medical tubing, blood bags, tablet coatings, capsules, and even food contact films. Plant operators value the flexibility it brings to polymers like PVC, making devices bend without breaking and films withstand repeated folding. Chemistry underpins its use as a raw material, blending smoothly with polymer resins without swollen gels or precipitation. In oral solid dosage forms, ATBC helps seals stay flexible and prevents film cracking, a repeated complaint before alternatives like ATBC found widespread adoption. During my years in pharmaceutical QA, there’s a visible difference in long-term stability between batches using ATBC-backed coatings and those with less robust plasticizers.
Large-scale use in tablets, capsules, and medical packaging follows from ATBC's low toxicity and proven safety record. Quality managers review every batch against a spectrum of property checks—water content, chromatographic purity, appearance, and solubility. Material safety data sheets confirm storage recommendations; a cool, dry place in sealed drums, usually polyethylene or stainless for chemical compatibility. ATBC doesn’t form hazardous by-products under short-term heating, which matters in pharmaceutical production lines where stoppages mean hourly losses. Packaging teams benefit from bulk supply in drums, pails, or small bottles, but exposure to open air needs controlling to stop minor hydrolysis. In case of accidental spillage, cleaning protocols involve soap and warm water, with waste dumping restrictions to prevent water body contamination. My work in compliance taught me that training staff in these standard operating procedures shrinks downtime, limits waste, and makes inspectors’ visits much smoother.
Harmful effects rarely appear, yet ongoing studies look at bioaccumulation and environmental impact, since every chemical hitting a landfill faces scrutiny. ATBC’s low bioaccumulation and high breakdown rate in soil and water set it apart from persistent organic pollutants. Yet no chemical goes unchecked, so routine monitoring continues in production areas to track worker exposure, and wastewater gets regular sampling before discharge. Any dust or vapor release stays minimal with this liquid form, but factory floors install spill pans and absorbent granules for safety assurance. In the event of fire, ATBC won’t accelerate combustion, but safety data sheets always recommend carbon dioxide or foam-type extinguishers, never water sprays, which might spread material. Regular audits and environmentally friendly packaging offer steps toward minimizing harmful releases and enhancing plant safety, both concerns that manufacturers always juggle.
Molecular references for ATBC use C20H34O8 in solution preparations, where solubility becomes a consideration. Its compatibility with common organic solvents—an edge for labs customizing film coatings or researchers adjusting tablet release profiles. In liquid form, ATBC measures easily by pipette or through dosing pumps, speeding up batch prep for large reactors. For analytical labs, knowing the exact molecular weight simplifies calibration of equipment and checking against published pharmacopeia standards during material acceptance. Industry experts point to its use in both large-scale manufacturing and R&D, as a reliable, easy-to-handle ingredient that doesn’t demand extra ventilation or fire control upgrades.
Combining detailed knowledge of Acetyltributyl citrate’s structure, density, and liquid state, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food industries trust it for both flexibility and safety. Its clarity, low water content, and non-reactive profile support long-term product stability. In my experience auditing production lines, ATBC rarely causes compliance delays—provided all documents, including HS Code 2918.16, stay clear for customs and local authorities. Consistent quality depends on buying from suppliers that stick to BP, EP, and USP grades, and maintaining training on storage and accident response. The shift toward non-phthalate, low-toxicity plasticizers gains steam, and ATBC stands out as a go-to solution that pulls its weight both on the plant floor and in regulatory paperwork.
Chengguan District, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
