| HS Code | 630846 |
| Chemical Name | Dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate (DPMA) |
| Cas Number | 88917-22-0 |
| Molecular Formula | C9H18O4 |
| Molecular Weight | 190.24 g/mol |
| Appearance | Clear colorless liquid |
| Boiling Point | 209 °C (408 °F) |
| Flash Point | 85 °C (185 °F) closed cup |
| Density | 0.98 g/cm3 at 20 °C |
| Vapor Pressure | 0.03 mmHg at 25 °C |
| Evaporation Rate | 0.02 (n-butyl acetate = 1) |
| Refractive Index | 1.421 at 20 °C |
| Solubility In Water | Slightly soluble |
As an accredited Dipropylene Glycol Monomethyl Ether Acetate / DPMA factory, we enforce strict quality protocols—every batch undergoes rigorous testing to ensure consistent efficacy and safety standards.
| Packing | Dipropylene Glycol Monomethyl Ether Acetate (DPMA) supplied in 200 kg steel drums, sealed, labeled, safe industrial solvent packaging. |
| Container Loading (20′ FCL) | 20′ FCL loading of DPMA: secure drums/IBCs upright, label clearly, ventilate container, protect from moisture and heat. |
| Shipping | Dipropylene Glycol Monomethyl Ether Acetate (DPMA) is a slow-evaporating glycol ether ester solvent. Ship in clean, dry drums, IBCs, or isotanks, tightly sealed to prevent moisture ingress. Avoid open flames and strong oxidizers. Ensure proper labeling, ventilation, and secure loading to prevent leakage or container damage during transit. |
| Storage | Store DPMA in a tightly sealed container in a cool, dry, well-ventilated area away from direct sunlight, heat, and open flames. Keep separated from strong oxidizers and acids. Avoid moisture ingress. Ensure proper labeling, secondary containment, and grounding to prevent static accumulation. Maintain appropriate temperature and inspect containers regularly for damage or leaks. |
| Shelf Life | DPMA has a typical shelf life of 3–5 years when stored sealed, dry, and away from heat or moisture. |
On automotive refinish lines using HVLP gravity-feed guns and rotary bell atomizers, DPMA is introduced into the reducer at 5–12 wt% to flatten the evaporation gradient between a fast butyl acetate/acetone front and a slow Aromatic 100 tail. The ester is not a primary letdown solvent; it acts as a tail modifier that controls the final solvent release before bake. A 6 wt% addition in a two-component acrylic-urethane clearcoat shifts ISO 2431:2011 4 mm cup viscosity from 18 s to 15 s at 23 °C, while the cured 35–40 µm film reaches 82–85 distinctness-of-image units under ASTM D5767-20. Sag resistance measured with ASTM D4400-18 shows a threshold at 12 wt%; above that concentration, vertical panels require 4–5 min intercoat flash at 23 °C and 65% RH. At 8 wt%, a forced-air 80 °C bake avoids solvent popping only if the ambient flash exceeds 10 min. When booth humidity rises above 70% RH, the same threshold moves downward, and trapped solvent appears as micro-bubbles in the upper third of the panel. Production data from two-shift refinish operations indicate that reducer loadings above 10 wt% add 6–8 min of tack time without further DOI gain. Regulatory classification is direct: DPMA contributes to VOC because its atmospheric distillation interval falls below 250 °C under Directive 2004/42/EC; EPA Method 24 reports the same emitted mass as VOC.
| Parameter | DPMA | PGMEA | DPM |
|---|---|---|---|
| CAS registry | 88917-22-0 | 108-65-6 | 34590-94-8 |
| Boiling range at 101.3 kPa | 205–217 °C | 145–146 °C | 190–195 °C |
| Closed-cup flash point | 82 °C | 42 °C | 75 °C |
| Evaporation rate relative to n-butyl acetate = 1 | 0.01–0.02 | 0.31–0.34 | 0.02–0.03 |
| Kinematic viscosity at 25 °C | 2.4 mm²/s | 1.1 mm²/s | 3.6 mm²/s |
| Water miscibility at 20 °C | partial | partial | miscible |
A 5 wt% substitution of DPMA for cyclohexanone in a white vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate screen ink lowers cone-and-plate viscosity at 100 s⁻¹ from 2.40 Pa·s to 1.60 Pa·s at 25 °C. On a 355 mesh polyester screen tensioned at 25 N/cm, this same ink remains free of micro-gel for 38 min at 25 °C and 50% RH, compared with 20 min for the cyclohexanone control. In a multi-station carousel press running 800 impressions/hour, the longer residence time prevents start-up scrap caused by dried binder inside 120 µm stencil openings. The 6 wt% loading shifts the drying curve sufficiently that the 38 °C forced-air tunnel must be held at 15 s dwell time to maintain blocking resistance above 45 °C after stacking. ASTM D4946-89 block tests on printed PVC film show peel failure at 60 °C when residual DPMA concentration exceeds 3 g/m². Diazo-sensitized photopolymer emulsions begin to lose edge sharpness after 8 h of continuous contact with a 6 wt% DPMA ink at 35 °C; production screens should therefore be cleaned or drained at shift end if the loading is above 4 wt%. DPMA is REACH-registered and requires no additional ozone-depletion classification, but the screen-room exposure limit must be verified under EN 689:2018 because the solvent is heavier than air and can accumulate in low-level flash-off cabinets.
In water-reducible industrial wood coatings on flat-line finishing systems, the minimum film formation temperature drops sharply when DPMA is dosed at 4 wt% on total liquid. The solvent is premixed with dipropylene glycol methyl ether at a 1:1 mass ratio before addition to the letdown tank; direct injection into a 40% solids acrylic-polyurethane hybrid dispersion under a Cowles disperser at 900 m/min tip speed causes local viscosity rise and particle destabilization. ISO 2115:1996 MFFT measurements show a drop from 18 °C to 9 °C when the DPMA-to-binder mass ratio is 4:100. On a flood-and-recess coater applying 80–120 µm wet film to oak veneer at 12 m/min, this addition prevents early coalescence cracks in a 35 °C oven. After 7 days at 23 °C, pendulum hardness under ASTM D4366-16 remains 15% below the solvent-free control, and ASTM D4946-89 block resistance reaches only grade 4, which is one grade below the kitchen-cabinet target. Below 5 wt%, these deficits are acceptable for open-pore interior furniture; above 8 wt%, residual tack becomes measurable in the upper coat even after 14 days. At relative humidity above 70%, the initial water release from the film is retarded, and cratering risk increases unless 0.3 wt% silicone surface additive is present. DPMA partitions preferentially into the resin phase because water miscibility is only partial at 20 °C, which is why hardness retention is lower than with a fully water-miscible diol ether. Under the EU Decopaint Directive and EPA Method 24, the addition must be reported as VOC.
Aged epoxy and polyurethane coatings on carbon steel and aluminium require a different stripping dwell when DPMA is blended at 10–20 vol% into benzyl-alcohol-based stripper gels thickened with methylcellulose. The ester-ether structure reduces gel viscosity from 12 000 mPa·s to 6 000 mPa·s at 20 °C, allowing cold application through airless spray nozzles at 80–100 bar. An aged two-pack epoxy film of 150 µm dry thickness shows visible swelling within 15 min at 25 °C; complete delamination requires 60–90 min. Loadings above 25 vol% do not shorten the dwell time and instead produce syneresis after 48 h static storage. Mass-change testing of gasket materials after 7-day immersion at 25 °C shows EPDM swelling and recommends nitrile gaskets below 40 °C. The low evaporation rate keeps vertical surfaces wet during dwell, but it also leaves a non-volatile ester-ether residue that must be removed with a surfactant wash before recoating. The open-tank process requires local exhaust ventilation and exposure assessment under EN 689:2018. Published data for DPMA-specific stripping-rate correlations across every generic polymer family is limited; the above dwell ranges are based on supplier screening with two-pack epoxy and polyurethane systems rather than all cured chemistries.
On a reverse roller coater running 120 m/min on 0.4 mm aluminium, a tail solvent with a flash point above 75 °C and a distillation endpoint below 250 °C controls wet film spread. DPMA at 2–4 wt% of total liquid in a 55–65% solids polyester-melamine enamel reduces ribbing marks on 80 µm wet films and raises specular gloss at 60° geometry from 63 to 68 units under ISO 2813:2014. The same addition allows the wet film to spread before the first oven zone where metal temperature reaches 250–280 °C for 40–60 s. Because DPMA's boiling range overlaps the blocking-agent release region of hexamethoxymethylmelamine, loadings above 5 wt% require a higher peak metal temperature of 270 °C to keep residual solvent below 2% before coiling at 35 °C. Intercoat adhesion after 0 T bend testing per EN 13523-5:2014 remains acceptable when DPMA is kept at 4 wt% or below; at 6 wt%, solvent retention reduces ASTM D5402-19 methyl ethyl ketone double rubs from 50 to 30, indicating incomplete crosslink network formation. This cure-density loss is not acceptable for exterior architectural cladding. The solvent is a VOC under the EU Decopaint Directive and must be counted in the coil line's carbon-equivalent emission reporting. DPMA is not a substitute for exempt solvents such as t-butyl acetate when regulatory VOC ceilings are the primary constraint. Published data for DPMA-specific coil coating lines remains limited; the values reported here are representative of a single polyester-melamine formulation and require verification on the target substrate.
Because DPMA has a closed-cup flash point above 82 °C and water content below 0.1% after molecular-sieve drying, one-component moisture-cure polyurethane adhesives and silyl-terminated polyether sealants can be viscosity-reduced in closed mixers. DPMA is added at 4–8 wt% of polymer mass after the polymer is wetted in a planetary mixer at 20 rpm under vacuum below 50 mbar. Viscosity at 25 °C falls from 80 000 mPa·s to 38 000 mPa·s at 6 wt%, which permits cartridge filling at 20 °C. A 25 mm bead at 23 °C and 55% RH extends open time from 18 min to 26 min when DPMA replaces 3 wt% methyl ethyl ketone. The acetate ester imposes a boundary: with tin-only cure packages, ester hydrolysis generates dipropylene glycol methyl ether and acetic acid traces, and the free acid can accelerate shelf-life drift when stored above 30 °C. After 7 days of cure at 23 °C, tensile elongation under ISO 37:2017 in a 5 mm-thick joint can fall more than 10% if 8 wt% DPMA remains trapped in the sealant core; published data for this exact configuration is limited, so formulation-specific retention testing is required before production. DPMA has no silicone-specific inhibition function, and amine-containing adhesion promoters should be evaluated for compatibility because residual acetic acid can reduce their activity in moisture-cure systems.
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Dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate (DPMA) is a mixed-isomer ester-ether solvent identified by CAS registry number 88917-22-0 and molecular formula C9H18O4. The product is manufactured through propoxylation of methanol followed by esterification with acetic acid, yielding a clear liquid with a density near 0.976 g/cm³ at 20 °C, a closed-cup flash point of 85–88 °C by ASTM D93, and a boiling range of 205–217 °C by ASTM D1078. The molecular weight of the dominant isomers is 190.24 g/mol. Because the substance contains two principal positional isomers, its distillation range is broader than that of single-isomer glycol ether acetates. The ether and ester functional groups provide a Hansen solubility parameter set reported near 15.7 MPa0.5 for dispersion forces, 4.6 MPa0.5 for polar interactions, and 8.1 MPa0.5 for hydrogen-bonding interactions. Water solubility is approximately 19 wt% at 20 °C. The solvent is not VOC-exempt, and under EPA Method 24 it is counted as volatile organic content unless a specific regulatory framework provides a downstream exemption.
Commercial DPMA is not defined by a single molecular configuration but by a specification envelope. The principal isomers are 2-(2-methoxypropoxy)-1-propanol acetate and 1-(2-methoxy-1-methylethoxy)-2-propanol acetate, with minor positional isomers present. This isomer distribution influences evaporation rate, solvency, and phase behavior in formulations. Suppliers differentiate technical grade, urethane grade, and low-water grade materials based on water content, acidity, and distillation range. The urethane grade is controlled for low water and acidity because residual moisture consumes isocyanate functionality in two-component systems. A low-water grade is often specified with water below 0.05 wt% when the product is used in moisture-sensitive polyurethane, electronic, or coil-coating formulations.
For bulk deliveries, the following representative specification matrix is applied at loading. These values are not a single regulatory standard; they combine gas chromatography, Karl Fischer titration, and ASTM methods. The limits vary among suppliers and are negotiated according to downstream sensitivity to water, acid, or color.
| Parameter | Typical specification | Reference method |
|---|---|---|
| Total ester content | ≥98.0 area% | Gas chromatography |
| Water content | ≤0.10 wt% | ASTM D1364 / Karl Fischer |
| Acidity as acetic acid | ≤0.02 wt% | ASTM D1613 |
| Color | ≤10 Pt-Co | ASTM D1209 |
| Distillation range | 205–217 °C | ASTM D1078 |
| Density at 20 °C | 0.970–0.980 g/cm³ | ASTM D4052 |
| Flash point, PMCC | 85–88 °C | ASTM D93 |
| Dynamic viscosity at 25 °C | 2.4–2.9 mPa·s | ASTM D7042 |
Water is the most heavily negotiated parameter in two-component urethane operations. A drum with water at 0.10 wt% introduces 2.0 g of water per 2,000 g of solvent, and the water consumes isocyanate groups through urea formation. For moisture-sensitive lines, an internal limit of ≤0.05 wt% is common. Pre-drying with 3A molecular sieves or a dried nitrogen sparge is required when drum transfer occurs at relative humidity above 60%. Acid number drift is also monitored because the ester group can hydrolyze under acidic conditions and release acetic acid.
In thermosetting coil-coating lines, DPMA is introduced as a tail solvent at 3–10 wt% of total volatile content. A reverse roll coater applying a 20–25 µm wet film to hot-dip galvanized steel is typically followed by a 45–90 s ambient flash and a three-zone convection oven with zone temperatures of 120 °C, 150 °C, and 180 °C. Sag resistance measured by ASTM D4400 is maintained when DPMA replaces an equal mass of xylene because the evaporation rate of DPMA is about 0.006 relative to n-butyl acetate, whereas xylene evaporates near 0.7 on the same scale. Flow time in a 4 mm ISO 2431:2019 cup at 23 °C is typically controlled between 20 s and 30 s to support leveling without excessive sag. Line speed must be reduced if DPMA exceeds 10 wt% because retained solvent at the final oven exit can rise above 150 mg/m² for a 20 µm dry film; this residual is measured by purge-and-trap gas chromatography after oven exit, though published data for this specific configuration is limited.
In high-solids acrylic-melamine baking enamels, DPMA at 5 wt% extends flow-out before crosslinking. The slow evaporation sustains an intermediate viscosity window during the first 60 s after application. This allows surface defects from roll coating to level without reducing the final crosslink density. Pendulum hardness after a 30 min bake at 140 °C is typically evaluated by ISO 1522. Substitution above 10 wt% is generally avoided on fast conveyor lines because the de-dust time can extend beyond 20 min at 23 °C, leading to lint pickup in dust-prone environments.
DPMA occupies a slow-evaporation position between fast-evaporating propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate (PMA) and the non-ester dipropylene glycol methyl ether (DPGME). The table below summarizes representative neat-liquid properties extracted from supplier technical bulletins. Values are strongly influenced by isomer distribution and should not be used as universal specifications.
| Property | DPMA | PMA | DPGME | Test reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAS registry number | 88917-22-0 | 108-65-6 | 34590-94-8 | — |
| Boiling range | 205–217 °C | 145–146 °C | 187–190 °C | ASTM D1078 |
| Flash point, closed cup | 85–88 °C | 42 °C | 75 °C | ASTM D93 |
| Evaporation rate, n-BuAc=1 | 0.006 | 0.34 | 0.02 | Gravimetric balance |
| Vapor pressure at 20 °C | 0.08 mmHg | 3.7 mmHg | 0.12 mmHg | ASTM D2879 |
| Density at 20 °C | 0.976 g/cm³ | 0.966 g/cm³ | 0.953 g/cm³ | ASTM D4052 |
| Water solubility | ~19 wt% | ~20 wt% | Miscible | Titration |
These differences create a clear substitution pattern. When PMA is replaced by DPMA at equal mass in a fast-dry alkyd spray formulation, sag resistance improves because evaporation slows, but the de-dust time increases from approximately 15 min to more than 45 min at 23 °C and 50% relative humidity. This trade-off is acceptable on coil lines but not on hand-sprayed cabinetry. Conversely, replacing DPGME with DPMA strengthens ester-type solvency toward cellulose acetate butyrate and nitrocellulose. The acetate functionality also changes hydrolysis behavior: DPMA hydrolyzes more rapidly than DPGME in aqueous acid below pH 3, generating acetic acid and the parent glycol ether. In acid-catalyzed coil primers containing 0.3–0.5% paratoluenesulfonic acid based on resin solids, the acid number measured by ASTM D1613 can increase by 0.02–0.05 mg KOH/g after 48 h at 50 °C. Such systems are therefore typically applied within 8 h of reduction to avoid drift in solvent composition and conductivity at the coater.
Within enclosed flexographic and gravure pressrooms, DPMA is added as a retarding solvent at 1–3 wt% of total liquid ink to slow viscosity rise on idle anilox rolls. Viscosity is maintained between 25 s and 35 s in an ISO 2431 4 mm flow cup at 23 °C during a 30 min press stoppage. Without a slow-evaporating tail solvent, evaporation from the doctor blade commonly causes the same ink to exceed 40 s within 10 min. The ester group promotes re-solubilization of dried ink on engraved cylinders, but photopolymer plate swell must be tested because DPMA at 3 wt% can increase plate elongation by 0.5–1.0% after 24 h immersion at 23 °C.
For immersion degreasing of aluminium and steel parts, DPMA is used as a high-flash blending solvent with dibasic esters or D-limonene at 20–35 vol%. The closed-cup flash point of the blend remains above 60 °C by ASTM D93, which permits operation in heated ultrasonic baths without explosion-proof lighting in some jurisdictions. Removal of rosin-based flux from copper-clad laminates is measured by residual ionic contamination below 1.56 µg NaCl/cm² under IPC-TM-650 2.3.25 when the bath is held at 55 °C for 5 min. The low vapor pressure reduces ventilation load but requires dry-off at 60–70 °C to avoid residual solvent in blind vias.
In emulsifiable concentrate formulations, DPMA functions as a co-solvent at 5–12 wt% to couple aromatic hydrocarbon carriers and calcium alkylaryl sulfonate surfactants. Cold-storage stability at 0 °C for 7 days is used to screen crystal growth. DPMA-containing formulations generally retain a clear single phase when the weight ratio of DPMA to aromatic solvent is kept between 0.10 and 0.25, whereas the same system with PMA may phase separate due to higher water uptake. The solvent is also evaluated for suspension concentrate grinding when the active ingredient is a low-melting solid; however, published data for this specific configuration is limited.
Operational boundaries must be respected. DPMA should not be dried with strong acids or strong bases and should not be stored in unlined mild steel at temperatures above 40 °C for extended periods without air exclusion, because acid-catalyzed ester cleavage can increase acidity and darken the product. It is incompatible with strong oxidizing agents and should not be blended with concentrated peroxide or chlorate solutions. In heated transfer lines, centrifugal pumps with mechanical seals rated for 80 °C and 0.2 MPa discharge pressure reduce leakage. Black-iron pipe is acceptable for dry product, but stainless steel is preferred when water is present above 0.10 wt%. In aluminium flake dispersions, hydrolysis can release acetic acid and generate hydrogen; high-shear dispersers with a Cowles blade at 10 m/s tip speed can raise paste temperature to 38 °C and accelerate gassing. Formulations containing aluminium flake should be pre-screened by a 48 h closed-bottle gas evolution test at 52 °C.
