Octadecylamine (Stearylamine) CAS 124-30-1

What is Octadecylamine (Stearylamine)?

Octadecylamine is the C18 saturated member of the fatty amine series, and the saturation is the whole point. Eighteen carbons in an unbranched, fully saturated chain pack together efficiently, which gives a hard crystalline solid melting in the low fifties and, more importantly, a molecule that forms tight, well-ordered monolayers on a surface. That ordering is why octadecylamine is the classic filming amine for steam and condensate systems, and why it is the preferred quaternary precursor for organoclays.

In boiler and condensate treatment the mechanism is physical rather than chemical. Volatilised with the steam and carried through the system, the amine adsorbs onto metal surfaces with the nitrogen anchored to the metal and the C18 chains projecting outward, forming a hydrophobic film that excludes condensate and dissolved carbon dioxide and oxygen from the surface. Neutralising amines raise the pH of the condensate; a filming amine like octadecylamine instead stops the condensate reaching the metal. The two approaches are often used together, and in long condensate return systems a filming amine protects runs that pH control alone struggles to reach.

The organoclay application exploits the same packing behaviour differently. Quaternised and ion-exchanged into the interlayer galleries of bentonite, the C18 chains prop the clay platelets apart and make the surface organophilic, so the clay disperses in oil rather than water. That is the basis of the rheology modifiers used in oil-based drilling fluids, greases, paints and sealants. Chain length and saturation both matter here: a shorter or kinked chain gives a smaller gallery spacing and a less effective organophilic surface.

The rest of the demand is a long list of smaller uses that all come back to a waxy, lubricious, surface-active C18 molecule: slip and antiblock additives in polyolefin film, mould release agents, anticaking and dust-suppression coatings on fertiliser prills, lubricant and fuel additives, textile softeners, asphalt anti-stripping agents and rubber processing aids. Chelora supplies both technical grade and, where the application requires it, treated grades with tighter colour and amine value control.

What specifiers look for in octadecylamine

• High primary amine content Filming performance and quaternisation efficiency both depend on the primary amine fraction, not just total amine value.
• Low iodine value Confirms the chain is genuinely saturated. Unsaturated carry-over disrupts the ordered film and lowers the melting point.
• Controlled colour Fatty amines darken when held hot with air present. Colour on the certificate reports thermal history, not just appearance.
• Consistent chain distribution C16 and C18 both present from the natural feedstock; the ratio is held consistent because it affects melting range and film quality.
• Physical form that suits the process Flake, prill or molten. Dust behaviour and melt handling differ enough to matter in practice.
• Low moisture Relevant to quaternisation and to anticaking applications where water promotes bridging.

How Octadecylamine is Manufactured

Octadecylamine is made from stearic acid — typically tallow or palm derived — by the nitrile route, with hydrogenation conditions chosen both to reduce the nitrile and to ensure the chain itself is fully saturated.

• Nitrile formation Stearic acid reacts with ammonia over a dehydration catalyst at elevated temperature to give stearonitrile, losing two molecules of water.
• Nitrile purification Distillation removes unreacted acid, amides and heavy by-products and sets the C16/C18 chain distribution carried through from the feedstock.
• Hydrogenation The nitrile is hydrogenated to the primary amine. Conditions are chosen to favour primary over secondary amine and to saturate any residual chain unsaturation, which is what keeps the iodine value low.
• Distillation Separates primary from secondary amine and removes light and heavy fractions, setting the primary amine content on the certificate.
• Forming Filled molten into heated containers, or flaked, prilled or pastillated and bagged depending on how the customer charges it.

Typical Commercial Specification

Typical technical-grade specification. Verify against your current COA before relying on these figures, and tell us if a filming or organoclay application needs anything tighter.

Physical & Chemical Properties

Reactivity in practice

Chemically, octadecylamine is an unremarkable primary aliphatic amine. What makes it distinctive is physical: a long saturated chain that crystallises and packs, so most of its industrial behaviour is about adsorption and ordering rather than reaction.

• Adsorbs as an ordered monolayer Nitrogen anchors to the metal or mineral surface, C18 chains project outward. The basis of both filming corrosion inhibition and organoclay modification.
• Forms salts with acids Acetates and fatty acid salts are used where some water dispersibility is needed, including asphalt and emulsion chemistry.
• Quaternises with alkylating agents Gives the dialkyl and trialkyl quats used in organoclays, fabric softeners and antistatic agents.
• Ethoxylates with ethylene oxide Produces nonionic surfactants and emulsifiers with a C18 hydrophobe.
• Reacts with carbon dioxide and air Forms carbamates and darkens when held molten with air present. Nitrogen blanketing preserves colour.
• Attacks copper, brass and aluminium Use stainless or carbon steel, or suitably lined equipment, in melt tanks and transfer lines.

Octadecylamine Compared With Other Fatty Amines

Fatty amines are chosen by chain length and by whether that chain is saturated or unsaturated, and those two variables decide almost everything that matters in practice: the physical form at ambient temperature, how the molecule packs at an interface, and whether the product needs heated handling. The amine group is the same in all of them. What changes is the tail, and the tail is what you are actually buying.

The pair worth understanding is octadecylamine and oleylamine. They have the same eighteen carbons and almost the same amine value, but the single cis double bond in oleylamine puts a kink in the chain that stops it crystallising, so one is a hard flake you have to melt and the other is a liquid you can pump at ambient. Where a process needs a C18 tail and cannot accommodate heated handling, that double bond is the entire reason oleylamine exists as a commercial product. Where crystallinity is what you want — a tight, ordered film on a steam line, or a well-packed organoclay gallery — the saturated chain is the better molecule.

Industries We Supply Octadecylamine To

Octadecylamine turns up in an unusually wide range of industries for a single-chemical product, almost always because something needs a waxy, surface-ordering C18 molecule.

Where Octadecylamine is Used

The applications divide between direct use as a filming or surface-active additive and use as a precursor to quaternary organoclays and softeners.

How a filming amine differs from a neutralising amine

A neutralising amine — cyclohexylamine, morpholine, DEAE — volatilises with the steam, dissolves in the condensate and raises its pH so that carbonic acid is neutralised. A filming amine works on the metal instead of the water: it adsorbs onto the surface and forms a hydrophobic layer that the condensate cannot wet. The practical difference shows up in long or complex condensate return systems, where a neutralising amine's protection depends on maintaining pH at every point and a filming amine's does not. Many programmes use both, with the filming amine covering the runs that pH control reaches least reliably. Dosing is continuous and low, and the film takes time to establish, so a filming programme is judged over weeks rather than on the first condensate sample.

Organoclays and why chain length and saturation matter

Bentonite swells in water and is useless in oil. Exchange the sodium in the interlayer galleries for a long-chain quaternary ammonium ion and the picture reverses: the platelets are propped apart, the surface becomes organophilic, and the clay disperses in hydrocarbon to build yield stress. The gallery spacing achieved — and therefore the rheology — depends directly on how long the chain is and how well it packs. A C18 saturated chain gives a larger, better-ordered spacing than a shorter or unsaturated one, which is why octadecylamine rather than oleylamine or dodecylamine is the usual precursor for high-performance organoclays, and why we hold the iodine value low.

Handling flake, prill and molten material

Flake and prill are convenient for intermittent users but generate fine dust on bag slitting and charging, which irritates eyes and the respiratory tract — use local extraction at those points and avoid dry-sweeping. Prills dust less than flake and are worth specifying where handling is manual. Continuous users generally take molten material in heated isotanks and keep a blanketed day tank, which eliminates dust entirely and introduces a thermal management question instead: hold at the lowest workable temperature, keep residence short and blanket the headspace, because hours held hot in air cost colour that cannot be recovered.

Quality Control & Testing

Every lot is released against a batch-specific Certificate of Analysis. The methods behind the numbers are standard across the industry, and we are happy to share them or to work to your own in-house test protocol.

• Total amine value by titration The figure dosing and quaternisation stoichiometry are calculated from. Reported as measured.
• Primary, secondary and tertiary amine split Determined separately, since filming performance and quaternisation efficiency depend on the primary fraction.
• Iodine value A performance specification for this product, not just a purity check — unsaturation disrupts chain packing.
• Chain distribution by GC C16 and C18 quantified, because the ratio affects melting range and film quality.
• Moisture by Karl Fischer Controlled at fill. Relevant to quaternisation and to anticaking performance.
• Colour by Gardner on the melt Reports oxidative and thermal history through production, filling and transit.
• Melting range Confirms identity and consistency of the chain distribution and saturation.
• Retained samples Held against every batch so a filming or organoclay problem can be traced to the material or ruled out.

Common Process Problems & Likely Causes

Problems with octadecylamine are usually about dust, melt handling, colour or the iodine value rather than the amine chemistry. The sequence below is how we work through them.

Packaging, Storage & Shipping

• 25 kg lined bags Flake, prill or pastille in moisture-barrier liners. Prill dusts less than flake where handling is manual.
• 150 kg drums For users melting a full drum into a holding tank.
• Heated isotanks Molten bulk with closed transfer, eliminating dust handling entirely for continuous users.
• Storage. Cool, dry, well-ventilated and bunded, away from heat, ignition sources, oxidisers and acids, with containers kept tightly closed. Nitrogen blanketing is worthwhile where colour matters.
• Materials of construction. Stainless steel, carbon steel or suitably lined vessels. Avoid copper, brass, bronze, aluminium and mercury, all of which are attacked by amines.
• Shelf life. Typically 12 months in unopened original packing under those conditions. Beyond that, re-test rather than assume — colour and amine value are the figures to check.

Hazards & Safe Handling

Octadecylamine is a skin and eye irritant, is very toxic to aquatic life, and is handled hot in many applications. The controls below reflect normal practice for a solid fatty amine. Always work from the current Safety Data Sheet and your own site risk assessment.

• Corrosive or strongly irritant. Fatty amines cause skin and serious eye damage. Molten material compounds this with a burn risk. Impervious gloves, chemical goggles or a face shield, and sleeve protection are the minimum wherever open transfer or sampling happens.
• Hot material handling. Grades supplied molten or melted on site are handled well above ambient. Insulate lines and valves, use face protection at sampling points, and never open a sight glass or a sample valve on a hot line without the correct PPE.
• Aquatic toxicity. These products are very toxic to aquatic organisms with long-lasting effects. Bund storage, keep spills out of surface water and drains, and treat the environmental classification as the governing hazard for spill planning rather than an afterthought.
• Dust and aerosol. Flaked and prilled grades generate fine dust on handling that irritates eyes and the respiratory tract. Use local extraction at bag-slitting and charging points and avoid dry-sweeping spilled solid.
• Incompatibilities. Keep away from strong acids, strong oxidisers, and from copper, brass, bronze and aluminium, all of which amines attack. Acid contact is exothermic.
• Ventilation. General ventilation plus local extraction at open transfer points. Vapour pressure is low at ambient, but melting and hot transfer raise exposure potential considerably.
• Spill response. Contain, absorb with inert material and collect for licensed disposal. Do not flush to drain. Solidified spills can be scraped once cool, which is often easier than handling them warm.
• First aid. Flush eyes with running water for at least fifteen minutes and get medical attention. Wash skin with soap and water, removing contaminated clothing. For molten contact, cool with water and do not attempt to remove adhered material — seek medical attention immediately.

Regulatory & Compliance Notes

Octadecylamine is an ordinary article of commerce with no use restrictions in normal industrial application. Two points below are worth particular attention: the aquatic classification and, where steam contacts food, the boiler-treatment clearance position.

• Inventory status. Fatty amines are listed on the principal chemical inventories in the major importing regions. Ask us for the inventory confirmation relevant to your destination country.
• Import registration. Several territories require the importer to hold a registration or notification before a consignment lands. Start that process early — it is the most common cause of delay at destination.
• Environmental classification. The aquatic hazard classification carries through to transport documentation, marine pollutant marking and local effluent consent conditions. Confirm the position for your site before the first delivery.
• Hazard communication. Supplied with an SDS in the format applicable to your region and labelled in line with the GHS classification for the product.
• Food-contact steam. Where steam or condensate may contact food or food-contact surfaces, boiler treatment chemicals are subject to specific clearance requirements and dose limits in several jurisdictions. Octadecylamine appears in those frameworks, but the permitted use and limit vary — confirm the position for your market and your plant before starting a programme.

We Supply Octadecylamine Worldwide

Chelora Chemicals is a supplier and export partner, not a single-plant trader. We ship Octadecylamine (Stearylamine) from India to customers across Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and North and South America, handling the export documentation, dangerous-goods paperwork and freight so the material arrives ready to use.

• Incoterms. EXW, FOB, CIF, CFR and DAP quoted to suit your purchasing terms and freight arrangements.
• Ports. Regular shipments through Nhava Sheva (JNPT) and Mundra, with other Indian ports arranged where it suits the routing.
• Documentation. Commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin, COA, SDS and dangerous-goods declaration issued as a complete set.
• Flexible volumes. A single drum for laboratory qualification, through LCL consolidations, up to repeat full loads on a supply contract.
• Supply continuity. Because we are independent of any one producer, a plant turnaround or a shipping disruption at one source does not have to become your stock-out.

Buying Octadecylamine from Chelora

The useful conversation about octadecylamine covers physical form, the iodine value your application needs, and whether you can take molten material.

• Tell us the application A filming programme, an organoclay and a polymer slip additive put the emphasis on different parts of the specification. Knowing which lets us match grade properly.
• Specify the iodine value If chain packing matters to your application — and for filming and organoclay use it does — write the iodine value into the specification rather than treating it as informational.
• Choose flake, prill or molten Dust exposure and thermal management trade off against each other. We will advise based on how you charge.
• Food-contact steam clearance Raise it at enquiry stage if your steam may contact food, so we can confirm what is possible for your market before you commit.
• Batch documentation COA with amine value, primary amine split, iodine value, moisture, colour and chain distribution, plus SDS and TDS with every consignment.
• Supply continuity Scheduled call-offs against a contract with inventory cover, so a treatment programme or a production line is not exposed to spot availability.

How ordering works

• Send the enquiry. Product, grade or specification, quantity, destination port and the Incoterm you buy on. If you have a spec sheet, attach it — it saves a round trip.
• We quote. Price, lead time, packing and a sample COA, normally within one working day.
• Sample and qualify. For first orders or critical applications, we send a trial quantity so your lab can sign off before you commit.
• Confirm the order. Proforma invoice issued; payment terms agreed against the volume and the relationship.
• Production and QC. Material allocated and released against a batch-specific COA, with a pre-shipment sample where the application calls for it.
• Ship and document. Packed, labelled and loaded with the full export and dangerous-goods document set, and tracked through to arrival.

Related Amines & Intermediates

Other fatty amines and the amines we supply alongside them for water treatment and surfactant chemistry.