How are our triethyl citrate named?
The naming principle of esters
Triethyl citrate is a derivative of carboxylic acid, i.e., carboxylic acid ester. Manufacturers and suppliers in China can name esters by adding the names of the corresponding carboxylic acid and alcohol before “ester”. The word “alcohol” can generally be omitted, that is, “acid” “ester”, such as: triethyl citrate, acetyl tributyl citrate, acetyl triethyl citrate, tributyl citrate, High Quality Plasticizer TBC Tributyl Citrate, and their CAS No 77 89 4, CAS No 77 94 1, CAS No 77 93 0, CAS No 77 90 7. However, in factories, for esters of polyols, people generally placed the “acid” name at the end, becoming “acid of alcohol”. For example: ethylene glycol diacetate.
The naming basis of esters
The chemical naming of esters is based on the acid and alcohol (phenol) that form it. This naming method follows certain rules. For example, the chemical formula of ethyl acetate is CH3COOC2H5, where “acetic acid” refers to the acid part and “ethyl ester” refers to the alcohol part. Similarly, manufacturers and suppliers in China also named triethyl citrate (C12H20O7), methyl benzoate (C6H5COOCH3), etc. according to this rule. This naming method is not only applicable to simple esters, but also to more complex ester compounds, such as octyl acrylate (CH2=CHCOOC8H17), where “acrylic acid” is the acid part and “octyl ester” is the alcohol part. The naming of esters reflects the characteristics of their chemical structure. In this way, chemists can accurately identify and distinguish different ester compounds.
The specific name of triethyl citrate
The chemical name of triethyl citrate is triethyl 2-hydroxy-1,2,3-propanetricarboxylate, and its chemical formula is C12H20O7. This name reflects the molecular structure and composition of triethyl citrate. Specifically, it is the product of the esterification reaction between citric acid (a tricarboxylic acid) and three ethanol molecules in factories. This chemical naming method follows the international chemical naming rules, in which the “triethyl ester” part indicates that three ethanol molecules participate in the reaction, and the “citric acid” part indicates the type of reactant.
Related Links: Dimethyl Adipate, Dimethyl Glutarate, High Purity Tributyl Citrate Plasticizer
