The most stable and effective antioxidant is a synthetic fat-soluble compound known as butylated hydroxy toluene (BHT), which is chemically known as "2,6 Di Tertiary Butyl Para Cresol (DBPC)". It is also known as 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol, 3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxytoluene, and dibutylhydroxytoluene.
Chemically a phenol derivative,
butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) is an organic compound that is lipophilic and
appears as white crystals or crystalline powder. It is insoluble in water but
easily soluble in alcohol, acetone, toluene, and other hydrocarbon solvents.
Due to its antioxidant effects, it
has been used as an ingredient in cosmeceuticals as well as culinary items. The
reference number assigned to it is E321.
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Manufacturing Process:
Sulfuric acid has been used to catalyse the reaction between p-cresol (4-methylphenol) and isobutylene (2-methylpropene), which results in the chemical synthesis of BHT:
CH3(C6H4)OH
+ 2 CH2=C(CH3)2 → ((CH3)3C)2CH3C6H2OH
Alternately,
2,6-di-tert-butylphenol has been used to make BHT by hydrogenolysis after
hydroxymethylation or aminomethylation.
Uses:
- Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) is used in a wide range of goods, including cosmetics, rubber, electrical transformer oil, polymers, elastomers, lubricants, greases, edible oils, metalworking fluids, embalming fluid, food, animal feed, etc.
- BHT is a gasoline additive known as AO-29 in the petroleum sector and is used in jet fuel, turbine and gear oils, and hydraulic fluids.
- BHT's antiviral qualities make it ideal for usage in medicinal products.
- BHT is also used to stop the development of peroxide in various laboratory chemicals, solvents, and organic ethers.
- To ensure the safe preservation of certain monomers, it is used as a polymerization inhibitor.
- While some additive products use BHT as their main constituent, others only use it as one of many ingredients, frequently in combination with butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA).
- It prevents the production of peroxide in laboratory compounds like tetrahydrofuran, diethyl ether, and other chemicals by acting as a stabiliser.
- In the process of converting allyl alcohol to glycerine, it functions as a polymerization inhibitor. It is used to create the chemical methyl aluminium bis, an organoaluminum (2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-alkylphenoxide).
- BHT is often used to stop the oxidation caused by free radicals in fluids (such as fuels and oils) and other materials, and the U.S. F.D.A.'s regulations—which see BHT as "generally regarded as safe"—allow tiny quantities to be added to meals.
- Notwithstanding this and the National Cancer Institute's prior finding that BHT was not harmful in an animal model, social worries about its widespread usage have been voiced. BHT has also been proposed as a potential antiviral medicine, however as of December 2022, neither the scientific literature nor any drug regulatory bodies have authorised its usage as an antiviral.
- BHT's antiviral qualities make it ideal for usage in medicinal products.
Food Additives
- Due to its capacity to keep lipids from spoiling, BHT is largely utilised as an antioxidant food additive. Based on a 1979 National Cancer Institute research in rats and mice, it is categorised as generally regarded as safe (GRAS) in the United States. According to E321, it is legal in the European Union.
- Several foods include BHT as a preservation component. With this application, BHT preserves freshness or stops food from spoiling; it can also be used to slow down the pace at which food changes in terms of texture, colour, or flavour.
- BHT has been voluntarily removed from several food items or has been phased out by some food corporations.
- Its ideal concentration in packaged food goods is from 0.001%.
- It is also utilised in cosmetics since it aids in preventing the degradation of cosmetic items brought on by chemical interactions with oxygen.
- In cosmetics, the maximum concentration level is 0.5%.
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