4-Fluoro-N-Isopropylaniline
4-Fluoro-N-Isopropylaniline — F.I. Aniline or N-isopropyl-4-fluoroaniline — is a purpose-built agrochemical intermediate. It is the amine half of flufenacet, the oxyacetamide herbicide used for pre-emergent grass control in maize, cereals and soybean, and it carries the same 4-fluorophenyl fragment into a range of pharmaceutical and specialty routes.
Chelora Chemicals supplies F.I. Aniline to agrochemical producers, active-ingredient manufacturers and fine chemical plants worldwide, in jerricans, drums and IBC quantities, with a batch COA and GHS safety data sheet on every consignment.
Product identity
- CAS Number
- 70441-63-3
- IUPAC name
- 4-Fluoro-N-propan-2-ylaniline
- Molecular formula
- C9H12FN
- Molecular weight
- 153.20 g/mol
- EC number
- 448-100-7
- MDL number
- MFCD00270760
- SMILES
- CC(C)Nc1ccc(F)cc1
- HS Code
- 2921 42*
* Confirm the exact HS heading with your customs broker — classification of N-alkylated halogenated anilines varies between destination tariffs.
What F.I. Aniline is used for
4-Fluoro-N-Isopropylaniline is a secondary aromatic amine: an aniline ring carrying fluorine at the para position and an isopropyl group on the nitrogen. Both substituents are deliberate. The fluorine blocks metabolic oxidation at the para position and tunes the electronics of the ring; the isopropyl group occupies one of the two hydrogens on nitrogen, so the finished amide carries a branched alkyl chain that shapes how the active binds and how long it persists.
This is not a general-purpose building block in the way a simple aniline is. It is a late-stage, purpose-made intermediate, bought almost exclusively to be acylated in the next step. The dominant commercial outlet is flufenacet, where the amide nitrogen of the finished herbicide is exactly this molecule.
Why the substitution pattern matters
Because two things have already been fixed — the ring fluorine and the N-alkyl group — there is more scope for confusion here than with a simple aniline, and none of the near neighbours will work in a flufenacet route:
- 4-Fluoro-N-isopropylaniline (CAS 70441-63-3) — this product. Fluorine para, isopropyl on nitrogen. A secondary amine.
- 4-Fluoroaniline (CAS 371-40-4) — the primary amine precursor, with no N-alkyl group. One step upstream of this product, not a substitute for it.
- N-ethyl or N-methyl analogues — a different branch on the nitrogen changes the steric profile of the finished amide entirely.
Quote us the CAS number and we will confirm the correct material before the order is placed. We supply the parent fluoroaniline and the related halogenated anilines as well — see the full intermediate range.
Appearance and handling character
F.I. Aniline ships as a colourless to light brown mobile liquid with the pungent odour typical of aromatic amines. It boils around 214 °C and has a flash point near 83 °C, so it is a combustible rather than a flammable liquid — but it will burn, and it should not be stored near heat sources. It is practically insoluble in water and miscible with common organic solvents. Like all aryl amines it darkens on exposure to air and light; because the material usually feeds a regulated active-ingredient chain, ask for nitrogen-blanketed packing if it will sit before use.
| Parameter | Typical value |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Colourless to light brown liquid |
| Assay (GC) | 98.0% min |
| Moisture (KF) | 0.2% max |
| Residual 4-fluoroaniline | Specify per contract |
| Colour (APHA) | Reported per batch |
| Non-volatile residue | Reported per batch |
Important: the figures above are indicative of commercial grade material and are offered for planning only. The batch certificate of analysis is the governing document. Grades on this product vary more than on a commodity aniline — assay between 95% and 99% is offered across the market — so state the limits you need rather than assuming a standard.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Physical state | Liquid at ambient |
| Boiling point | ≈ 214 °C @ 760 mmHg |
| Flash point | ≈ 83 °C |
| Relative density | Reported on the batch COA |
| Amine class | Secondary aromatic amine |
| Water solubility | Practically insoluble |
| Organic solubility | Miscible with alcohols, ketones, aromatic & chlorinated solvents |
| Storage sensitivity | Air and light sensitive; darkens on storage |
| Odour | Pungent, amine-like |
Physical constants compiled from public reference data for CAS 70441-63-3 and rounded for readability. Published data on this compound is thinner than on a commodity aniline; where a figure matters to your process, take it from the batch COA rather than from any published table, this one included.
Where our customers put this molecule to work
This is a narrow-outlet intermediate. One herbicide dominates its consumption; the remainder is spread across fluorinated pharmaceutical and materials chemistry.
Flufenacet
The dominant outlet by a wide margin. The amine is chloroacetylated and the resulting chloroacetamide is coupled with a trifluoromethyl-thiadiazole fragment to give flufenacet — a soil-applied oxyacetamide herbicide used pre-emergence for annual grass and broadleaf control in maize, cereals and soybean.
- The amide nitrogen of the active is this molecule
- Moisture in the feed destroys the acylating reagent
- Demand tracks the pre-emergent herbicide season
Other agrochemical actives
The same N-alkyl fluoroaniline motif appears across amide and urea chemistry in crop protection, where the fluorine improves stability against metabolic and environmental breakdown and the branched alkyl group tunes selectivity.
- Amide and substituted urea formation
- Custom active-ingredient intermediates
- See our agrochemical intermediate range
Pharmaceutical intermediates
A ready-made secondary amine carrying a 4-fluorophenyl group — useful wherever a synthesis needs that fragment attached through nitrogen without a separate N-alkylation step and the selectivity problems that come with it.
- Amide, urea and sulfonamide formation
- Saves an N-alkylation step in the route
- Tighter grades available on specification
Liquid crystal & materials chemistry
Fluorinated aromatic amines are building blocks in liquid crystal intermediates and specialty polymers, where the carbon–fluorine bond contributes thermal stability and the alignment behaviour the application depends on.
- Liquid crystal intermediate synthesis
- Specialty polymer building blocks
- Available in trial and laboratory quantities
Analytical & reference use
The compound is also a known flufenacet-related substance, which means analytical laboratories and registrants need it in small, well-characterised quantities for method development and impurity profiling.
- Reference and method development quantities
- Full analytical pack on request
- Small packs from 100 g
Contract & scheduled supply
Herbicide manufacture runs to a season. Most buyers on this line want quantity released against a production calendar rather than in one shipment. We hold inventory and release it to your schedule.
- Annual contracts with scheduled call-off
- Price held across the contract period
- Second source held in reserve
How we supply 4-Fluoro-N-Isopropylaniline
Chelora Chemicals is a supplier and sourcing partner, not a manufacturer. We own no fluoroaniline plant — and on a narrow-outlet intermediate with a thin producer base, that independence is worth more than it is on a commodity. We are never obliged to push you whatever a captive unit happens to be running that month.
Instead we place your order with whichever qualified producer best matches your assay, your impurity tolerance, your documentation requirements and your delivery window.
Be aware that this is a thinly traded molecule. Far fewer plants make it than make the parent fluoroaniline, grades vary more between sources, and a single turnaround moves availability noticeably. Qualify a second source before you need one.
- Specification read against the CAS first. We confirm you need 70441-63-3, the N-isopropyl secondary amine, and not the parent 4-fluoroaniline, before we quote a price.
- Grade stated plainly. Material circulates at 95%, 96%, 98% and 99% assay on this line. We tell you which one we are quoting rather than letting "technical grade" do the work.
- Residual primary amine reported. Unreacted 4-fluoroaniline in the feed acylates twice as readily as your product does. If it matters to your step, we will have it quantified on the COA.
- Batch COA shared before dispatch. You approve the assay, moisture and impurity profile against your own spec while the material is still in our warehouse.
- Nitrogen blanketing on request. Where colour or assay retention matters to your downstream step, we arrange inert-gas headspace in drums and IBCs.
- Trial pack to full container. Start with a 25 kg jerrican and scale to contracted drum or IBC supply as your campaign firms up.
- Export machinery handled in-house. Hazard classification, UN-approved packing, labelling, freight booking and customs paperwork are ours to manage.
Packed the way your plant receives it
Pack format drives your landed cost and your handling effort. Tell us how the material will be decanted at your end and we will quote the format that suits your operation — not just the one that suits ours.
HDPE jerricans
UN-certified jerricans, palletised and shrink-wrapped. The default for pilot campaigns, laboratory scale-up and plants charging small batch quantities.
MS & HDPE drums
UN-certified drums, palletised and shrink-wrapped. The workhorse format for commercial supply. Nitrogen headspace available on request where colour matters.
IBC totes
Caged intermediate bulk containers for higher-volume users — fewer handling movements, faster decanting and less drum disposal at your end.
Samples & trial packs
Laboratory samples, reference quantities and pilot volumes dispatched by courier so your R&D or analytical team can qualify the grade before campaign commitment.
Incoterms to suit you
Quoted on the Incoterm your purchasing team works to. Ocean, air and road freight arranged end-to-end with documentation filed before booking.
Campaign despatch
Herbicide production is seasonal. We hold contracted quantity and release it against your production calendar instead of landing it all at once.
Handle this as an absorbable aromatic amine
One point deserves to be made plainly: this substance does not carry a harmonised classification in the way the commodity anilines do, and supplier classifications vary. That is a reason for more caution, not less. Treat it with the controls you would apply to the parent 4-fluoroaniline — which is classified as toxic by all three routes — until your own assessment says otherwise. The summary below is orientation only; the safety data sheet supplied with your consignment is the authoritative document.
Typical classified hazards
H302Harmful if swallowed.H312Harmful in contact with skin.H332Harmful if inhaled.H315Causes skin irritation.H319Causes serious eye irritation.
Read this carefully: the statements above reflect classifications commonly assigned by suppliers of CAS 70441-63-3, not a harmonised entry. Some suppliers classify more strictly, and the toxicological dataset on this specific compound is thinner than on a commodity aniline. The SDS issued with your batch governs, and your own risk assessment should assume aryl-amine behaviour — skin absorption included.
Spill & emergency orientation
Plan your response before the drum arrives, not after it leaks. The points below are orientation for your emergency planners — sections 4, 5 and 6 of the SDS are the authoritative instructions and should be posted at the point of use.
- Contain, do not flush. Dyke the spill and absorb with sand or inert absorbent; never wash it to a drain or watercourse.
- Assume skin absorption. A liquid aryl amine wets clothing thoroughly and keeps delivering dose — remove contaminated clothing immediately and wash the skin thoroughly.
- Ventilate before approaching. The pungent odour is a warning that exposure is occurring, not an indication that it is within a safe limit.
- Have the SDS with the casualty. Aromatic amines can affect the blood, and the treating clinician needs the product identity and CAS number in hand.
- Dispose as regulated waste through a licensed contractor, in line with your local chemical waste regulations.
Storage
- Cool, dry, well-ventilated store, away from direct sunlight and heat sources. With a flash point near 83 °C this is a combustible liquid, not a low-flash solvent — but it will burn.
- Keep containers tightly closed. Air and light drive colour drift. Inert headspace preserves both colour and assay on long storage.
- Segregate from oxidising agents, strong acids and acid chlorides. As an aromatic amine it reacts exothermically with acylating and oxidising reagents — which is precisely why your next step works.
- Bunded storage with a sealed floor, sized for the largest single container you hold.
- Shelf life is typically 12–24 months in sealed original packing under these conditions. Re-assay before use after long storage, particularly if the colour has moved.
Handling & PPE
- Skin protection is the priority. Aryl amines pass through intact skin — chemical-resistant gloves and coveralls, not just splash protection, with glove breakthrough data checked against your actual contact time.
- Engineering controls first. Handle in closed transfer systems or under local exhaust ventilation rather than relying on PPE alone.
- Respiratory protection where vapour or aerosol may be generated, per your own exposure assessment.
- Eye protection and an accessible eyewash and safety shower at all transfer points.
- No published exposure limit means you set one by analogy and by assessment, not that none is needed. Your occupational hygienist should make that call explicitly.
Transport
F.I. Aniline moves as regulated cargo. We classify each consignment, apply UN-approved packaging and labelling, and file the dangerous-goods declaration before the booking is made. The applicable UN number, class and packing group are stated on your shipping documents and SDS — ask us for the current DG paperwork when you plan the shipment.
What travels with every consignment
A chemical shipment is only as good as the file that travels with it — and on a late-stage intermediate feeding a registered active, the file is half the purchase.
Certificate of Analysis
Batch-specific assay by GC, moisture by Karl Fischer, appearance, colour and impurity profile — checked against your purchase specification before we release the goods.
Impurity profile on request
Where your registration file or your acylation step needs residual primary amine and related substances quantified, we arrange for them to be reported rather than left as "balance".
GHS Safety Data Sheet
Full 16-section SDS in GHS format covering hazards, exposure controls, handling, storage, spill response, toxicology and disposal — issued in the language your destination requires.
Dangerous Goods Declaration
UN number, hazard class, packing group and IMDG or IATA declaration prepared and filed before the container is booked, with correctly marked and labelled packaging.
Certificate of Origin
Chamber-attested where required, plus preferential-origin forms where a trade agreement gives your import duty relief at the destination.
Retained & pre-shipment samples
Pre-shipment samples carry the same COA as the commercial lot, so what your laboratory qualifies is exactly what arrives. Retention samples held against the batch.
How this amine becomes an oxyacetamide herbicide
Two things have already been built into this molecule before it reaches you, and a third is added in your plant. Understanding that sequence explains why residual primary amine and moisture are the two specifications worth arguing about. The route below is the general industrial pattern, not a process disclosure.
Fluorine goes on first
Upstream, a fluoronitrobenzene is reduced to 4-fluoroaniline. Aromatic fluorination is hazardous, capital-intensive chemistry — and it is already behind you when you buy this product.
The nitrogen is alkylated
Reductive amination with acetone, or direct N-alkylation, installs the isopropyl group on nitrogen. This is the step that turns a primary amine into the secondary amine you are buying.
Acylate
In your plant the secondary amine is chloroacetylated to give the chloroacetamide. Water in the feed destroys the acid chloride; residual primary amine acylates preferentially and twice.
Displace and finish
The chloride is displaced by the trifluoromethyl-thiadiazole fragment to complete the oxyacetamide structure, and the active is purified and formulated for the field.
Why feed quality carries through the whole route
The acylation step is where feed quality becomes visible. Both of the impurities that matter most are things the upstream plant either did not finish or did not remove:
- Residual 4-fluoroaniline is the important one. It is a primary amine with two available hydrogens, so it is more nucleophilic than your product and acylates first — consuming reagent and producing a bis-acylated by-product that must be separated from the active.
- Residual water hydrolyses chloroacetyl chloride on contact, wastes expensive reagent, generates HCl in the batch and attacks equipment.
- Over-alkylated species — tertiary amines from a second alkylation upstream — cannot acylate at all. They pass through the reactor as dead weight and end up in your waste stream.
- Oxidation products from air exposure during storage carry colour into the intermediate and, in a registered product, have to be accounted for rather than ignored.
That chain of consequences is the reason we quote against your written specification rather than a generic "technical grade", and the reason the batch COA is shared for approval before dispatch rather than sent with the invoice.
| Stage | Material |
|---|---|
| Two steps upstream | 4-Fluoronitrobenzene from the nitro chloro benzene chain |
| One step upstream | 4-Fluoroaniline CAS 371-40-4 — the primary amine |
| This product | 4-Fluoro-N-Isopropylaniline CAS 70441-63-3 — the secondary amine |
| Downstream | Flufenacet and related oxyacetamide actives |
We supply the upstream fluoroaniline and the wider halogenated aniline range as well. If you are weighing whether to buy the primary amine and alkylate in-house or take the secondary amine ready-made, our technical desk will talk through both — see the full intermediate range.
What actually moves the price of this intermediate
F.I. Aniline is a thinly traded, purpose-made intermediate with no screen price at all. Knowing what drives the quote helps you time a purchase and read whether an offer is realistic.
Very thin producer base
Far fewer plants make this than make the parent fluoroaniline, and fewer still make it to a consistent specification. A single turnaround has a disproportionate effect on availability and on price.
- Qualify a second source before you need it
- Lead times stretch faster than on commodities
- Ask us about dual-source contracts
Two-step cost build
You are paying for fluorination and for N-alkylation, one on top of the other. Movements in the fluoroaniline market feed through here with a lag, amplified by the second step's own yield and energy cost.
- Structurally priced well above the parent amine
- Alkylation yield is a real cost variable
- We flag feedstock-driven moves in the quote
Herbicide seasonality
Pre-emergent herbicide manufacture runs months ahead of the spray season, and northern-hemisphere maize and cereal programmes concentrate demand into a narrow production window.
- Quote early for pre-season tonnage
- Spot buying at peak costs materially more
- Contracted call-off smooths the exposure
Grade spread
Assay varies more on this product than on a commodity aniline, and so does the residual primary amine content behind it. Two offers that both say "technical" can be genuinely different materials.
- Compare assay and impurity profile, not price alone
- Ask what the balance actually is
- We state the grade we are quoting
Pack format
Cost per kilo falls from jerricans to drums to IBCs. If your receiving system can take a tote, the saving over a campaign usually dwarfs the handling change — and it cuts operator contact with a skin-absorbable liquid.
- Jerricans carry the highest packing cost
- IBC is cheapest per kilo at volume
- Drum disposal is a hidden cost at your end
Freight & DG surcharges
This is regulated cargo, so ocean freight carries a hazardous surcharge and space is tighter than for general cargo. Destination and Incoterm move landed cost as much as the ex-works price does.
- Compare on landed cost, not ex-works
- DG space books out ahead of peak season
- We quote FOB, CIF, CFR or DDP as you prefer
| If your end use is… | Specify |
|---|---|
| Flufenacet manufacture | High assay, low residual primary amine, tightly controlled moisture |
| Other agro actives | High assay with moisture controlled to your acylation step |
| Pharmaceutical chain | Tight impurity profile; metals and residual solvents reported |
| Materials & liquid crystal | Colour ceiling often matters more than assay |
| Analytical / reference | Small pack, highest available purity, full analytical pack |
Not sure which column you are in? Describe the reaction you are running and our technical desk will recommend the grade — including telling you when a cheaper specification would do the job just as well.
Support that goes beyond shipping the drum
What our technical desk will do
- Match a grade to your reaction. Tell us the acylation you are running and we will recommend the specification — and say so plainly when a tighter, costlier grade would add nothing.
- Talk through make-or-buy. If you already run fluoroaniline, we will discuss honestly whether alkylating in-house beats buying the secondary amine at your volume, rather than simply selling you the more expensive line.
- Be straight about data gaps. Published physical and toxicological data on this compound is thin. We will tell you what is well established and what you should determine yourself, rather than quoting confident numbers from a catalogue.
- Review your specification before it goes into a contract, so you are not locked into a limit that no plant can consistently hit.
Regulatory & compliance notes
- Pesticide-precursor status. As a dedicated herbicide intermediate, this material attracts registration, licensing or end-use declaration requirements in some jurisdictions. We check the destination rules before quoting, not after you have raised the PO.
- Chemical inventory listings differ between regions, and a lower-volume substance like this one is more likely to have gaps than a commodity aniline. Confirm your obligations under the applicable inventory regime before importing.
- Source disclosure for registration. Where your active-ingredient registration requires the intermediate source to be declared or held constant, tell us at the outset — it changes how we manage second-sourcing for your account.
- Dangerous goods documentation is prepared by our export desk and filed before booking, so the consignment is not held at origin for paperwork.
None of the above is legal advice — your own regulatory affairs team owns the final compliance position for your import. What we commit to is giving you accurate product identity data, an honest account of what is and is not well established about this substance, and complete documentation to work from.
From enquiry to delivered drum
Send the specification
Product name or CAS 70441-63-3, the assay, moisture and residual amine limits you work to, quantity, pack preference and destination port.
Receive a firm quote
Pricing, grade, lead time, packing and Incoterm confirmed in writing within 24 hours — our sourcing desk is staffed around the clock.
Qualify and approve
Sample dispatched if you are qualifying a new source. Batch COA shared for your approval before the material is released.
Ship and track
DG classification filed, freight booked, export documents issued, and the consignment tracked through transit and clearance to your plant.
What buyers ask us about 4-Fluoro-N-Isopropylaniline
Is this the same as 4-fluoroaniline?
Should I buy this, or make it from 4-fluoroaniline in-house?
What purity do you normally supply?
Why does residual 4-fluoroaniline matter so much?
What is the minimum order quantity?
How long does delivery take?
Why does the liquid darken in storage? Is the batch off-spec?
How should we store it, and what is the shelf life?
What hazard classification applies?
Is this a dangerous good? What paperwork comes with it?
- Batch certificate of analysis
- GHS-format safety data sheet
- Dangerous-goods declaration with UN number, class and packing group
- Commercial invoice, packing list and bill of lading or airway bill
- Certificate of origin and any destination-specific forms
Do you supply to my country?
Do you manufacture this yourself?
Request pricing on 4-Fluoro-N-Isopropylaniline
Send your required assay, residual amine limit, quantity, pack format and destination port. Our sourcing desk is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and comes back with pricing, grade, lead time and packing options — whether that is a single trial jerrican or a contracted drum programme for the season.