Butyrate
Butyrates are the salts or esters of butyric acid .
Salts
The salts consist of butyrate anions C 3 H 7 COO - and a cation . Examples are magnesium butyrate [Mg (C 3 H 7 COO) 2 ] and ammonium butyrate (NH 4 C 3 H 7 COO). When wet, they have the same characteristic odor as butyric acid. If a butyrate salt is treated with an acid , butyric acid is formed.
Ester
The esters can be prepared from butyric acid and alcohols and are described in more detail under butyric acid esters . An example is butyric acid methyl ester , CH 3 -CH 2 -CH 2 -COO-CH 3 , a component in apple flavor .