n-Butyl Acrylate (BA)

MEHQ-stabilised n-butyl acrylate, 99.5% min, for acrylic emulsions and adhesives

n-Butyl acrylate (CAS 141-32-2) is the soft monomer of the acrylic emulsion trade: copolymerised with methyl methacrylate, styrene, vinyl acetate or acrylic acid it lowers the glass transition temperature of the polymer, so it decides how flexible a paint film or how tacky an adhesive is. Producer specifications agree closely on what a buyer checks: assay of 99.5% minimum by gas chromatography, water 0.04-0.05% maximum (ASTM E203 or D1364), acidity calculated as acrylic acid 0.009-0.01% maximum (ASTM D1613), colour 10 APHA maximum on the platinum-cobalt scale (ASTM D1209), and monomethyl ether of hydroquinone (MEHQ) at 15 ± 5 ppm, or 10-20 ppm, measured by ASTM D3125. The inhibitor is the point of the handling rules. MEHQ works only with dissolved oxygen present, so producers require butyl acrylate to be stored under air and never under inert gas: a tank or ISO tank blanketed with pure nitrogen loses its protection. Storage is kept below 35 °C, where one producer gives a storage stability of one year; another sets 25 °C, away from light, and six months from delivery. Stock is used first in, first out, and dissolved oxygen is replenished when storage runs past four weeks. The heat of polymerisation, about 500-600 kJ/kg, is why an uninhibited or overheated tank is dangerous. For transport butyl acrylate is UN 2348, Butyl acrylates, stabilized, Class 3 flammable liquid, packing group III.

The buyer is an emulsion or resin plant making binders for architectural and industrial paints, a pressure-sensitive adhesive producer, a textile, non-woven, paper or leather coatings maker, or a sealant and caulk formulator. Large plants take chemical-tanker parcels, carried under the IBC Code as an inhibited cargo with the producer's certificate of the inhibitor added; most formulators take ISO tanks of about 20 t or 200-litre drums in containers. HS 2916.12 covers all esters of acrylic acid, so trade data show the acrylate ester trade rather than butyl acrylate alone: in 2024 China declared exports of 461,038 MT, the USA 265,903 MT, Germany 204,605 MT, France 138,567 MT, Malaysia 128,457 MT, Belgium 109,835 MT, South Korea 47,289 MT, South Africa 43,420 MT and Japan 33,944 MT. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers n-butyl acrylate from producers' offtake and trader parcels against the producer's certificate of analysis showing assay, MEHQ, water, acidity and colour, SGS or Intertek inspection at load, the safety data sheet, a certificate of origin and REACH registration confirmation for EU imports, on FOB, CFR and CIF terms. Send the volume, ISO tank, drum or parcel, the MEHQ range you need, the discharge port and the payment terms.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.