Butyraldehyde Market Analysis

Butyraldehyde is a colorless, liquid with a pungent odour. It is produced by reacting propylene and synthesis gas over a catalyst (mostly rhodium). It is highly soluble in most common organic solvents, but scantly soluble in water. Butyraldehyde which is also known as butanal is used as a raw material for downstream organic synthesis of products such as n-butanol, trimethylolpropane, 2-ethylhexanoic acid, and polyvinyl buthylal. These chemicals are in turn used to produce synthetic resins, rubber accelerators, pharmaceuticals, perfumes, crop protection chemicals, and pesticides among others.

Butyraldehyde is mostly used as a raw material for producing n-butanol, which is used to manufacture pharmaceuticals, polymers, and pyroxilin plastics. It is also used as diluents in melamine-formaldehyde and urea-formaldehyde resins production. The second largest application for butyraldehyde is production of 2-ethylhexanol, which is used in DEHP, a plastic softener phthalate. Trimethylolpropane, polyvinyl butyral and 2-EH acid accounts for low consumption of butanal.