Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 10, 2026

Butachlor

Butachlor is a herbicide of the acetanilide class. It is used as a selective pre-emergent herbicide to control annual grasses and some broad-leaved weeds. It was introduced circa 1970. It is extensively used in India in the form of granules and emulsifiable concentrate in rice as post emergence herbicide, and 2,699 tonnes (5,950,000 lb) was sold in India in 2005-06, declining to 372 tonnes (820,000 lb) in 2009-10.

Last revised
Jun 10, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
331 w
Citations
9
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Butachlor
source ↗
Names
Preferred IUPAC name
N-(Butoxymethyl)-2-chloro-N-(2,6-diethylphenyl)acetamide
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)
ChEBI
ChEMBL
ChemSpider
ECHA InfoCard 100.041.328
EC Number
  • 245-477-8
KEGG
UNII
  • InChI=1S/C17H26ClNO2/c1-4-7-11-21-13-19(16(20)12-18)17-14(5-2)9-8-10-15(17)6-3/h8-10H,4-7,11-13H2,1-3H3
  • ClCC(=O)N(c1c(cccc1CC)CC)COCCCC
Properties1
C17H26ClNO2
Molar mass 311.85 g·mol−1
Appearance Light yellow oil
Density 1.0695 g/cm3
20 mg/L (20 °C)
Hazards
GHS labelling:
GHS06: ToxicGHS07: Exclamation markGHS09: Environmental hazard
Danger
H302, H317, H331, H410
P261, P264, P270, P271, P272, P273, P280, P301+P312, P302+P352, P304+P340, P311, P321, P330, P333+P313, P363, P391, P403+P233, P405, P501
Flash point 100 °C (212 °F; 373 K)2
Lethal dose or concentration (LD, LC):
1740 mg/kg (oral, rat)1
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).

Butachlor is a herbicide of the acetanilide class.3 It is used as a selective pre-emergent herbicide1 to control annual grasses and some broad-leaved weeds. It was introduced circa 1970.4 It is extensively used in India in the form of granules and emulsifiable concentrate in rice as post emergence herbicide, and 2,699 tonnes (5,950,000 lb) was sold in India in 2005-06, declining to 372 tonnes (820,000 lb) in 2009-10.5

It is used in Uganda.6

Butachlor's herbicide mode of action is to prevent formation of very long chain fatty acids; this makes its HRAC classification Group K (Australia), Group K3 (global) and Group 15 (numeric).

Application

Butachlor is typically applied at 1.25-2 kg/ha active ingredient.5

References

References

  1. Merck Index, 11th Edition, 1498
  2. Butachlor at Sigma-Aldrich
  3. PPDB, retrieved 2019-10-03.
  4. PPDB, retrieved 1-2025-March
  5. Choudhury PP, Singh R, Ghosh D and Sharma AR. 2016. Herbicide Use in Indian Agriculture. ICAR - Directorate of Weed Research, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, 110 p. https://dwr.icar.gov.in/Downloads/Information_Bulletin/Information%20Bulletin%20No%20-%2022%20-%20Herbicide%20Use%20in%20Indian%20Agriculture.pdf
  6. "Register of Agricultural Chemicals Registered" (PDF). Republic of Uganda Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries. 16 December 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2026.
  • Butachlor in the Pesticide Properties DataBase (PPDB)