1,4-Butanediol

1,4-BDO

Molecular structure via molpic based on CDK

Physical properties []
Molecular mass	90.12 g/mol ^[1]
Density	1.017 at 68 °F (USCG, 1999) - Denser than water; will sink g/cm³ ^[1]
Appearance	Colorless, oily liquid ^[1]
Odor	Almost odorless ^[1]
Melting point	61 ° ^[1]
Boiling point	446 ° ^[1]
Decomposition	When heated to decomposition it emits acrid smoke and fumes. ^[1]
Solubility	greater than or equal to 100 mg/mL at 73 °F (NTP, 1992) ^[1]
Predicted LogP	-0.8 ^[1]

Structural Identifiers []
Molecular formula	C₄H₁₀O₂ ^[1]
IUPAC name	butane-1,4-diol ^[1]
SMILES	C(CCO)CO ^[1]
InChI	InChI=1S/C4H10O2/c5-3-1-2-4-6/h5-6H,1-4H2 ^[1]
InChIKey	WERYXYBDKMZEQL-UHFFFAOYSA-N ^[1]

1,4-Butanediol (also known as Butane-1,4-diol, Tetramethylene glycol, 1,4-Butylene glycol, 1,4-Dihydroxybutane, 1,4-Tetramethylene glycol, Sucol B, Tetramethylene 1,4-diol, DIOL 14B, 1,4-BD or Agrisynth B1D)

Chemistry

Stereochemistry []

1,4-Butanediol is a achiral mixture.

Subjective effects []

magnus / 1,4-Butanediol []
Routes: Oral Active Effects: cognitive euphoria empathy, affection, and sociability enhancement in smaller doses wakefulness increased music appreciation anxiety suppression in high doses strong sedation Notes: you don’t even notice sleeping, it’s the closest thing I‘ve experienced to a time skip, it’s what alcohol wants to be as a drug

magnus / 1,4-Butanediol []

Routes:

Oral

Active Effects:

cognitive euphoria
empathy, affection, and sociability enhancement
in smaller doses wakefulness
increased music appreciation
anxiety suppression
in high doses strong sedation

Notes:

you don’t even notice sleeping, it’s the closest thing I‘ve experienced to a time skip, it’s what alcohol wants to be as a drug

Experience reports []

There are currently 25+ experience reports involving 1,4-butanediol on Erowid:

External links []

References []

National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Compound Summary for CID 8064, 1,4-Butanediol. Accessed May 7, 2026. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/8064
U.S. Food and Drug Administration; National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. 1,4-Butanediol. UNII: 7XOO2LE6G3. Global Substance Registration System. Accessed May 7, 2026. https://gsrs.ncats.nih.gov/ginas/app/beta/substances/7XOO2LE6G3