beta-Hydroxybutyric acid
Athanor · official
C4H8O3 · 104.1 g/mol
IUPAC name: (3R)-3-hydroxybutanoic acid
Also called 3-hydroxybutyrate, BHB, ketone body, beta-hydroxybutyrate
WarningCauses skin irritation · Causes serious eye irritation · May cause respiratory irritationNames and identifiers
- IUPAC name
- (3R)-3-hydroxybutanoic acid
- Synonyms
- 3-hydroxybutyrate, BHB, ketone body
+ 40 more
beta-hydroxybutyrate, (R)-3-Hydroxybutyric acid, Butanoic acid, 3-hydroxy-, (3R)-, 3-D-hydroxybutyric acid, 3-Hydroxybutanoic acid, (R)-, (-)-beta-Hydroxybutyrate, D-, b-Hydroxybutyrate, 148ULJ1DF4, EINECS 210-909-6, CHEBI:17066, 3-HYDROXYBUTYRIC ACID, (R), 3-HYDROXYBUTYRIC ACID, (R)-, D-(-)-.BETA.-HYDROXYBUTYRIC ACID, .BETA.-HYDROXYBUTYRIC ACID L-FORM [MI], 3-hydroxy-butyrate, D-(-)-beta-HYDROXYBUTYRIC ACID, RefChem:502534, BETA-HYDROXYBUTYRIC ACID L-FORM, 210-909-6, (R)-3-Hydroxybutanoic acid, (3R)-3-hydroxybutanoic acid, (R)-3-Hydroxybutanoate, D-3-hydroxybutyric acid, MFCD00066257, (R)-(-)-3-Hydroxybutyric acid, D-(-)-3-hydroxybutyrate, (R)-(-)-beta-Hydroxybutyric acid, delta-3-hydroxybutyrate, 3R-hydroxy-butanoic acid, D-beta-hydroxybutyrate, (-)-3-Hydroxy-n-butyric acid, CHEMBL1162484, 3-D-hydroxybutyrate, Q27075135, (R)-(-)-beta-hydroxybutyrate, beta-D-Hydroxybutyric acid, D-beta-Hydroxybutyric acid, (-)-3-Hydroxybutyric acid, UNII-148ULJ1DF4, 3HR
- Molecular formula
- C4H8O3
- Empirical formula
- C4H8O3
- Molecular weight
- 104.1 g/mol
- Exact mass
- 104.04734
- CAS number
- 300-85-6
- PubChem CID
- 92135
- Canonical SMILES
- CC(CC(=O)O)O
- Isomeric SMILES
- C[C@H](CC(=O)O)O
- InChI
- InChI=1S/C4H8O3/c1-3(5)2-4(6)7/h3,5H,2H2,1H3,(H,6,7)/t3-/m1/s1
- InChIKey
- WHBMMWSBFZVSSR-GSVOUGTGSA-N
- Molfile
Names, InChI and the identifiers from PubChem, retrieved 2026-10-14.
Calculated
- Heavy atoms
- 7
- Rings
- 0
- Aromatic rings
- 0
- Fraction sp³ carbons (Fsp3)
- 0.75
- H-bond donors
- 2
- H-bond acceptors
- 2 computed here · PubChem 3
- Rotatable bonds
- 2
- TPSA (Ų)
- 57.5
- Formal charge
- 0
- XLogP3
- -0.5 PubChem
- Complexity
- 69 PubChem
- Stereocenters
- 1 definedCIP: C2: R
- Double-bond geometry
- None specified
- Point group
- C1 of one 3D conformer with its hydrogens, by Athanor’s engine (as in the app)
Elemental analysis
- C46.15%
- H7.75%
- O46.10%
Isotope pattern
Each peak is a nominal mass with its abundance-weighted exact mass, as a percentage of the tallest, from IUPAC natural isotope abundances.
Computed from the structure with RDKit 2026.09 when this page was built, beside PubChem's own computed values from its record; where the two differ, both are shown.
Predicted
- log P
- -0.16 Crippen (Wildman and Crippen 1999)
- log S (water solubility)
- -0.25 ESOL (Delaney 2004), log mol/L
- Synthetic accessibility
- 2.63 SA score, 1 easy to 10 hard (Ertl and Schuffenhauer 2009)
Drug-likeness: Lipinski’s rule of five
- Molecular weight ≤ 500: 104.1
- log P ≤ 5 (Crippen): -0.16
- H-bond donors ≤ 5: 2
- H-bond acceptors ≤ 10: 2
Passes all four rules.
¹³C NMR shifts, predicted
Predictions, not measurements; each names its method. A measured log P, where a source reports one, is under Physical properties.
Safety
Warning
Most widely reported: 82 company reports to ECHA. Source [1].
- Harmful or irritant
- H315Causes skin irritation
- H319Causes serious eye irritation
- H335May cause respiratory irritation (98.8% of reports)
Precautionary statements: P261, P264, P264+P265, P271, P280, P302+P352, P304+P340, P305+P351+P338, P319, P321, P332+P317, P337+P317, P362+P364, P403+P233, P405, P501
Safety data sheets on the supplier’s page: Chemenu Inc., Biorbyt, SynHet - Synthetic Heterocycles.
Always read the supplier’s safety data sheet before working with it.
Spectra
- 1H NMRHuman Metabolome Database (HMDB) (Varian · 600 MHz · Water)
- 1H-13C NMRHuman Metabolome Database (HMDB) (Bruker · 600 MHz · Water)
- GC-MSHuman Metabolome Database (HMDB) (EI-B · positive) · MassBank of North America (MoNA) (GCMS-2010 Plus, Shimadzu · EI-B · positive) · MassBank of North America (MoNA) (GCMS-2010 Plus, Shimadzu · EI-B · positive)
- MS-MSHuman Metabolome Database (HMDB) (Quattro_QQQ · Negative) · Human Metabolome Database (HMDB) (Quattro_QQQ · Negative) · Human Metabolome Database (HMDB) (Negative) · Human Metabolome Database (HMDB) (Positive) · Human Metabolome Database (HMDB) (Positive) · Human Metabolome Database (HMDB) (Quattro_QQQ · Negative)
- LC-MSMassBank Europe (API3000, Applied Biosystems · LC-ESI-QQ · NEGATIVE) · MassBank Europe (API3000, Applied Biosystems · LC-ESI-QQ · NEGATIVE) · MassBank Europe (API3000, Applied Biosystems · LC-ESI-QQ · NEGATIVE) · MassBank Europe (API3000, Applied Biosystems · LC-ESI-QQ · NEGATIVE) · MassBank Europe (API3000, Applied Biosystems · LC-ESI-QQ · NEGATIVE) · MassBank of North America (MoNA) (Agilent qTOF 6545 · LC-ESI-QTOF · positive)
- Other MSMassBank Europe (GCMS-2010 Plus, Shimadzu · EI-B · POSITIVE) · MassBank of North America (MoNA) (qTof · negative)
Experimental spectra held by these sources; each link opens the source's own record.
Literature
Reading PubChem, OpenAlex and GSRS…
Bioactivity
Reading ChEMBL…
References
- [1]European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) · ECHA legal notice: reuse with acknowledgement · via PubChem · retrieved 2026-10-14
- [2]Human Metabolome Database (HMDB) · Linked only · via PubChem · retrieved 2026-10-14
- [3]MassBank of North America (MoNA) · CC BY 4.0 · via PubChem · retrieved 2026-10-14
- [4]NIST Mass Spectrometry Data Center · Linked only · via PubChem · retrieved 2026-10-14
- [5]MassBank Europe · Linked only · via PubChem · retrieved 2026-10-14
- ·Calculated values: computed by Athanor with RDKit 2026.09 from the structure.
- ·Literature on PubChem
Data last updated 2026-10-14.