Diethylaminoethanol	Triethanolamine	Triethanolamine hydrochloride
Structural Formula
Appearance	Clear hygroscopic liquid with nauseating ammoniacal odor	Colorless to pale yellow hygroscopic liquid with ammoniacal odor.	White powder
Molecular Formula	C6H15NO	C6H15NO3	C6H15NO3.HCl
Molecular Weight	117.2	149.2	185.6
Boiling Point	162°C	335°C
Melting Point	-70°C	21°C	177-179°C
Vapor Density	1.01
Liquid Density	0.884	1.124
Vapor pressure	2.8 kPa at 20°C	<0.01 Pa
Diethylaminoethanol and triethanolamine are flammable

Also refer to 2000 Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG2000) Guide 132

Health Hazards

All are irritating to eyes, skin, lung and digestive tract. Skin contact can cause burns and ingestion can cause abdominal pain and diarrhea. Prolonged exposure may cause kidney and liver damage. Upon combustion, they may give off toxic gases. Triethanolamine hydrochloride is described as incompletely characterized as a health risk.

Risk and Safety Phrases.

INDUSTRIAL/COMMERCIAL USES

Alkanolamines are versatile reagents that can be used as starting points for the synthesis of a number of industrial chemicals, including a number of important heterocyclic compounds. The most important of these are the reaction products with long-chain fatty acids to produce neutral alkanolamine soaps used as emulsifying agents in foods, agricultural sprays, cleansers, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. They are also used in hot melt adhesives and a number of other adhesive formulations as modifiers; in cement processing; in paints, corrosion inhibitors, in electroplating, ore processing and in wood pulping, petroleum and natural gas processing.

COMMENTS

The alkanolamines are precursors for the nitrogen mustards: HN-1, HN-2, and HN-3, of which HN-3 is the most important. Triethanolamine is also a primary degradation product of HN-3 release into soil where it can be detected by secondary ion mass-spectrometry (J. Mass Spect., 2000, 35 (12) 1460-1469). Alkanolamines are manufactured by the reaction of ammonia with the corresponding oxide: ethanolamines are the products of the reaction of ammonia and ethylene oxide. The relative yields of the mono- di-, and triethanolamines are controlled by controlling the ratio of ammonia to the oxide in the reaction. Mono- and dialkanolamines can be recycled into the higher alkanolamines. Annual production capacity is approximately one million tons worldwide. The two precursors, ethylene oxide and ammonia are manuafctured on a very large scale. Ethylene oxide production worldwide is approximately 5 million tons and ammonia production is approximately 15 million tons.