Skip to main content

sec-butylamine

roasted nitrogen compound

Found in 2 ingredients across the CompKitchen flavor graph.

Look up another compound — search by name, CAS number, PubChem CID, or FEMA #.

2D Lewis structure of sec-butylamine
2D Lewis Structure
Formula
C4H11N
Molecular weight
73.14 g/mol
PubChem CID
24874 — full record on PubChem

Properties

Odor description
ammonia and fishy odor
Odor threshold — in air
170 ppb 1 published value · see all 1 with sources
Volatility
high
CAS number
13952-84-6
Regulatory · United States

FEMA GRAS — Generally Recognized As Safe for flavoring use

✓ Exact match
FEMA number
4240
GRAS publication
GRAS 22
FEMA primary name
sec-Butylamine

Reported use levels (ppm by food category)

Typical vs maximum reported addition levels in finished food. Use as a regulatory ceiling reference — verify against the current GRAS publication for your product category.

Food category Typical (ppm) Maximum (ppm)
baked goods 2 10
breakfast cereal 0.2 1
cheese 0.4 2
condiments/ relishes 0.1 0.5
confectionery frostings 1 5
fats/oils 0.1 0.5
fish products 0.2 1
frozen dairy 0.4 2
fruit ices 0.4 2
gravies 0.1 0.5
meat products 0.2 1
milk products 0.4 2
other grains 0.2 1
poultry 0.2 1
processed fruits 0.4 2
seasonings/ flavors 0.1 0.5
snack foods 1 5
soups 0.1 0.5
Source: FEMA GRAS publications 1-33.

Published thresholds

1 measured value from the literature. Grouped by what was actually measured — a threshold smelled in clean water, tasted in the mouth, or measured in a real food are three different quantities and are not pooled.

In air

170 ppb

Airborne detection — not comparable to a water threshold.

Threshold Matrix Source Paper
170 ppb air Nagata 2003 —

Only values we can attribute are listed. Where a compendium's licence does not permit public attribution its figures are omitted here, so every number on this page traces to a citable source.

Found in

Measured impact first, then profile share

Every ingredient known to contain sec-butylamine. Ingredients with a measured concentration come first, ranked by odour activity; the rest follow by how large a share of that ingredient's profile this molecule is. The figure beside each is how many different compounds that ingredient has in total — not the concentration of sec-butylamine in it.

Into the chemistry?

Get a molecule-level pairing breakdown each week — which ingredients share a compound, and why it matters at the table. Free, no spam.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.

Try the pairing tools to see which ingredient combinations rely on sec-butylamine, or compare two ingredients side-by-side.