Epichlorohydrin (ECH)

About This Product

Epichlorohydrin, ECH or 1-chloro-2,3-epoxypropane, has the formula C3H5ClO and CAS number 106-89-8. It is a colourless, transparent liquid with a pungent, garlic-like odour, boiling at about 116 °C and moderately soluble in water. The molecule carries two reactive sites, a strained epoxide ring and a chlorine atom, and that dual reactivity is what makes it the building block of epoxy resins. Reacted with bisphenol A under alkaline conditions it couples and then re-closes the epoxide at each end, giving the diglycidyl ether that underlies most epoxy coatings, adhesives and composite resins. Water is the key limit because it slowly opens the epoxide to chlorohydrins that reduce yield and epoxide content in the resin, so this grade holds it to 0.02 percent, with colour at 10 maximum for light-coloured products. Epichlorohydrin is made either by chlorinating propylene or, increasingly, from glycerine, a route that turns the surplus glycerine co-produced with biodiesel into a chemical intermediate. It is used in bisphenol A and novolac epoxy resins, polyamide-epichlorohydrin wet-strength resins for paper, polyamine flocculants for water treatment, ion-exchange resins, epichlorohydrin elastomers and glycidyl ether synthesis. Bio Green Chem supplies epichlorohydrin at 99.9 percent minimum to specification on appearance, purity, water and colour, in 250 kg drums or ISO tanks. It is toxic, corrosive, a skin sensitiser and may cause cancer; it must be handled under closed conditions to the safety data sheet.