Ethyl formate CAS#109-94-4
Excellent Flavoring Performance – Delivers a pleasant fruity aroma, making it an ideal ingredient for rum, fruit, and beverage flavor formulations.
Food-Grade Approved – Permitted as a food flavoring under GB2760-96, ensuring suitability for approved food and beverage applications.
Naturally Occurring Compound – Found in a variety of natural sources, including fruits, honey, brandy, and rum, supporting authentic flavor profiles.
Reliable Production Process – Manufactured through a well-established esterification process, ensuring consistent quality and stable product performance.
Ethyl Formate CAS 109-94-4
Ethyl formate, also known as ethyl formic acid, is a colorless liquid with low viscosity. According to GB2760-96, it is approved for use as a food flavoring. It is widely used in the preparation of flavorings for rum, apricot, peach, pineapple, mixed fruit, and sherry. Naturally, it occurs in Boronia dentigeroides, Florida orange juice, honey, brandy, strawberries, raspberries, onions, apples, pears, and rum. Industrially, ethyl formate is produced by esterifying ethanol with formic acid in the presence of sulfuric acid, followed by dehydration and distillation using phosphorus pentoxide or anhydrous calcium chloride.
| Melting point | -80 °C (lit.) |
| Boiling point | 52-54 °C (lit.) |
| density | 0.921 g/mL at 20 °C (lit.) |
| vapor density | 2.5 (vs air) |
| vapor pressure | 15.16 psi ( 55 °C) |
| refractive index | n20/D 1.359(lit.) |
| FEMA | 2434 | ETHYL FORMATE |
| Fp | 7 °F |
| storage temp. | 2-8°C |
| solubility | Miscible with alcohol, benzene, and ether (Hawley, 1981) |
| form | Liquid |
| color | Clear |
| Odor | Characteristic; pleasant aromatic. |
| Odor Threshold | 2.7ppm |
| Odor Type | ethereal |
| biological source | synthetic |
| explosive limit | 0.16 |
| Water Solubility | 11 g/100 mL (18 ºC) |
| Thermal Conductivity | 0.16 W/(m·K) at 25 ℃ |
| Sensitive | Moisture Sensitive |
| JECFA Number | 26 |
| Merck | 143807 |
| BRN | 906769 |
| Henry's Law Constant | 0.097(x 10-3 atmm3/mol) at 5.00 °C, 0.13 at 10.00 °C, 0.17 at 15.00 °C, 0.23 at 20.00 °C, 0.29 at 25.00 °C (column stripping-UV, Kutsuna et al., 2005) |
| Dielectric constant | 8.4(6℃) |
| Exposure limits | TLV-TWA 100 ppm (~300 mg/m3) (ACGIH, MSHA, and OSHA); IDLH 8000 ppm (NIOSH). |
| Stability: | Stable. Extremely flammable. May form explosive mixtures with air. Note low flash point and wide explosive limits. Incompatible with strong oxidizing agents, strong bases, strong acids, nitrates. |
| Major Application | agriculture |
| cleaning products | |
| cosmetics | |
| environmental | |
| flavors and fragrances | |
| food and beverages | |
| personal care | |
| Cosmetics Ingredients Functions | PERFUMING |
| InChI | 1S/C3H6O2/c1-2-5-3-4/h3H,2H2,1H3 |
| InChIKey | WBJINCZRORDGAQ-UHFFFAOYSA-N |
| SMILES | CCOC=O |
| LogP | 1.504 at 25℃ |
| CAS DataBase Reference | 109-94-4(CAS DataBase Reference) |
| NIST Chemistry Reference | Formic acid, ethyl ester(109-94-4) |
| EPA Substance Registry System | Ethyl formate (109-94-4) |
Safety Information
| Hazard Codes | F,Xn |
| Risk Statements | 11-20/22-36/37 |
| Safety Statements | 9-16-24-26-33 |
| OEB | A |
| OEL | TWA: 100 ppm (300 mg/m3) |
| RIDADR | UN 1190 |
| WGK Germany | 1 |
| RTECS | LQ8400000 |
| Autoignition Temperature | 851 °F |
| TSCA | TSCA listed |
| HazardClass | 3 |
| PackingGroup | II |
| HS Code | 29151300 |
| Storage Class | 3 - Flammable liquids |
| Hazard Classifications | Acute Tox. 4 Inhalation |
| Acute Tox. 4 Oral | |
| Eye Irrit. 2 | |
| Flam. Liq. 2 | |
| STOT SE 3 | |
| Hazardous Substances Data | 109-94-4(Hazardous Substances Data) |
| Toxicity | LD50 orally in rats: 4.29 g/kg (Smyth) |
| IDLA | 1,500 ppm |
Product Application of CAS#109-94-4
Ethyl formate is commonly used as a solvent for nitrocellulose and cellulose acetate. In the pharmaceutical industry, it serves as an important intermediate in the synthesis of uracil, cytosine, and thymine.




