Isopropyl alcohol

Isopropyl alcohol (IUPAC name propan-2-ol), also called dimethyl carbinol or, incorrectly,isopropanol, is a compound with the chemical formula C₃H₈O or C₃H₇OH or CH₃CHOHCH₃ (sometimes represented as i-PrOH). It is a colorless, flammable chemical compound with a strong odor. As an isopropyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, it is the simplest example of a secondary alcohol, where the alcohol carbon atom is attached to two other carbon atoms, sometimes shown as (CH₃)₂CHOH. It is a structural isomer of 1-propanol. It has a wide variety of industrial and household uses, and is a common ingredient in chemicals such as antiseptics, disinfectants and detergents.

Uses

In 1990, 45 thousand metric tons of isopropyl alcohol were used in the United States. The vast majority of isopropyl alcohol was used as a solvent for coatings or for industrial processes. In that year, 5.4 thousand metric tons were consumed for household use and in personal care products. Isopropyl alcohol in particular is popular for pharmaceutical applications, it is presumed due to the low toxicity of any residues. Some isopropyl alcohol is used as a chemical intermediate. Isopropyl alcohol may be converted to acetone, but the cumene process is more significant. It is also used as a gasoline additive.

Solvent

Isopropyl alcohol dissolves a wide range of non-polar compounds. It also evaporates quickly, leaves nearly zero oil traces, compared to ethanol, and is relatively non-toxic, compared to alternative solvents. Thus, it is used widely as a solvent and as a cleaning fluid, especially for dissolving oils. Together with ethanol, n-butanol, and methanol, it belongs to the group of alcohol solvents, about 6.4 million tonnes of which were utilized worldwide in 2011.
Examples of this application include cleaning electronic devices such as contact pins (like those on ROM cartridges), magnetic tape and disk heads (such as those in audio and video tape recorders and floppy disk drives), the lenses of lasers in optical disc drives (e.g., CD, DVD) and removing thermal paste from heatsinks and IC packages (such as CPUs).