Diethyl tartrate
87-91-2 · (+)-(R,R)-DIETHYL TARTRATE · (+)-Diethyl L-tartrate · (+)-Diethyl L-tartrate, >=99% · (+)-Diethyl-2,3-dihydroxysuccinate · (+)-DIETHYL-L-TARTRATE · (2R,3R)(+)-Dihydroxybutane-1,4-dioic acid diethyl ester · (2R,3R)-Diethyl 2,3-dihydroxysuccinate · (2R,3R)-Diethyl2,3-dihydroxysuccinate · (r,r)-diethyl tartrate · (R,R)-TARTARIC ACID DIETHYL ESTER · 1,4-DIETHYL (2R,3R)-2,3-DIHYDROXYBUTANEDIOATE · Butanedioic acid, 2,3-d · Butanedioic acid, 2,3-dihydroxy- (R-(R*,R*)), diethyl ester · Butanedioic acid, 2,3-dihydroxy- (theta-(theta,theta))-, diethyl ester · BUTANEDIOIC ACID, 2,3-DIHYDROXY-(2R,3R)-, 1,4-DIETHYL ESTER · BUTANEDIOIC ACID, 2,3-DIHYDROXY-(2R,3R)-, DIETHYL ESTER · BUTANEDIOIC ACID, 2,3-DIHYDROXY-(R-(R*,R*))-, DIETHYL ESTER · Butanedioic acid, 2,3-dihydroxy-, diethyl ester · CAS-87-91-2 · Dexlansoprazole Impurity 50 · Diethyl (+)-tartrate · diethyl (2R,3R)-2,3-dihydroxybutanedioate · diethyl (2R,3R)-2,3-dihydroxysuccinate · Diethyl 1,2-dihydroxy-1,2-ethanedicarboxylate · Diethyl 2,3-dihydroxysuccinate · diethyl L(+)-tartarate · Diethyl L(+)-tartrate · Diethyl L-(+)-Tartrate · DIETHYL L-TARTARATE · Diethyl L-tartrate · Diethyl L-tartrate, >=99%, FG · Diethyl tartrate · Diethyl tartratene · Dietyl Tartrate · Ethyl tartrate · FEMA No. 2378 · L-(+)-Tartaric acid diethyl ester · L-DIETHYL TARTRATE · l-tartaric acid diethyl ester · Lansoprazole Impurity 24 · OQ72CPY58Z · Tartaric acid, diethyl ester · Tartaric acid, diethyl ester, (R,R)-CAS 87-91-2
Listed as a flavouring agent by the US.
Listed as flavouring agents and adjuvants (US)
- United States: Flavoring agent or adjuvant — FDA, Substances Added to Food: DIETHYL TARTRATE
The diethyl ester of tartaric acid, used as a carrier solvent for flavourings and as a flavouring agent. It is a colourless oily liquid with a faint wine-like odour.
Where it is and isn’t permitted
| Jurisdiction | Status | Scope and limits | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia and New Zealand | No listed food uses foundThis site has not matched this substance to any food use on this jurisdiction’s list of authorised food additives. A food additive may be used only in foods that list names. Flavourings, enzymes, processing aids and added nutrients are regulated separately and do not appear on it. | ||
| Canada | No listing matchedHealth Canada’s lists name additives without E or INS numbers, so this site matches them by exact name. A substance listed there under a name this site does not recognise has no row here. | ||
| European Union | No listed food uses foundThis site has not matched this substance to any food use on this jurisdiction’s list of authorised food additives. A food additive may be used only in foods that list names. Flavourings, enzymes, processing aids and added nutrients are regulated separately and do not appear on it. | ||
| Great Britain | No listed food uses foundThis site has not matched this substance to any food use on this jurisdiction’s list of authorised food additives. A food additive may be used only in foods that list names. Flavourings, enzymes, processing aids and added nutrients are regulated separately and do not appear on it. | ||
| Japan | No listing matchedThis site imports only Japan’s list of designated additives (Appended Table 1 to the Regulations for Enforcement of the Food Sanitation Act), matched by English name. Existing additives, natural flavouring agents and ordinary foods used as additives are permitted outside that list and are not imported, so an empty row does not show that Japan does not permit the substance. | ||
| South Korea | No listing matchedThis site imports Part III of South Korea’s Standards and Specifications for Food Additives, matched by CAS number, then INS number, then exact name. Mixed preparations and sanitisers are not imported, and an entry whose identifiers disagreed with a page’s is held for review, so an empty row does not show that South Korea does not permit the substance. | ||
| United States | Permitted, with conditions | Named in the list of synthetic flavoring substances and adjuvants in 21 CFR 172.515(b), which may be safely used in food in the minimum quantity required to produce their intended effect. The section is held on this site as the page synthetic-flavoring-substances-and-adjuvants; read it for the conditions. | 21 CFR 172.515retrieved 2026-10-18 |
| Codex Alimentarius | Not listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited. |
How much is permitted
A listing usually limits the quantity as well as the food. Only one of the forms that takes is a figure: quantum satis and good manufacturing practice permit the amount the technological effect requires and no more, which is a limit rather than the absence of one. Figures below are the range across every food category this page is listed in, and categories differ between regulators — see how much is permitted.
| United States | — | 1 no quantity stated |
|---|
No regulator sets a figure for Diethyl tartrate. That is not an absence of control: where the listing says quantum satis or good manufacturing practice, the quantity is limited to what the effect requires.
What it is made from
Made by esterifying tartaric acid with ethanol.
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.
- CAS registry number
- 87-91-2
- InChIKey
- YSAVZVORKRDODB-PHDIDXHHSA-N
- PubChem
- CID 6993580
How JECFA defines it
The international specification for identity and purity, prepared by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives and published by FAO. It is a different document from any above, written by a different body and revised on its own cycle; it is advisory, and a country adopts it or does not.
Dietyl Tartrate
Synonyms: Ethyl tartrate, Diethyl L(+)-tartrate Diethyl L(+)-tartrate; Ethyl tartrate
Assay, identification and purity criteria
Description and assay
- Specification history
- DIETHYL TARTRATE Prepared at the 29th JECFA (1985), published in FNP 34 (1986) and in FNP 52 (1992). Metals and arsenic specifications revised at the 63rd JECFA (2004). No ADI was allocated at the 25th JECFA (1981)
- Chemical names
- Diethyl L(+)-tartrate, 2,3-dihydroxy-[R-(R * ,R * )]-butanedioic acid diethyl ester
- C.A.S. number
- 87-91-2
- Chemical formula
- C 8 H 14 O 6
- Formula weight
- 206.18
- Assay
- Not less than 99.0%
- DESCRIPTION
- Colourless, thick, oily liquid, with a faint, wine-like odour
- FUNCTIONAL USES
- Carrier solvent, flavouring agent (see "Flavouring agents" monograph, JECFA No. 622)
- METHOD OF ASSAY
- Weigh accurately about 1.0 g of the sample and transfer it into a 125-ml Erlenmeyer flask containing a few boiling stones. Add to this flask, and, simultaneously, to a similar flask for a residual blank titration 25.0 ml of 0.5 N ethanolic potassium hydroxide. Connect each flask to a reflux condenser, and reflux the mixtures on a steam bath for exactly 1 h. Allow the mixtures to cool, add 10 drops of phenolphthalein TS to each flask, and titrate the excess alkali in each flask with 0.5 N hydrochloric acid. Calculate the percent of diethyl tartrate in the sample by the formula: where b = the number of ml of 0.5 N hydrochloric acid consumed in the residual blank titration S = the number of ml of 0.5 N hydrochloric acid consumed in the titration of the sample W = the weight (mg) of the sample
Identification
- Solubility (Vol. 4)
- Slightly soluble in water; soluble in fixed oils, ethanol, ether
- Refractive index (Vol. 4)
- n (20, D): about 1.448
- Specific gravity (Vol. 4)
- d (20, 4): 1.204 - 1.207
Purity criteria
- Specific rotation (Vol. 4)
- [alpha] 20, D: Between + 7.5 and + 8.5 o
- Acid value (Vol. 4)
- Not more than 1
- Sulfated ash (Vol. 4)
- Not more than 0.05% Test 1 g of the sample (Method II)
- Lead (Vol. 4)
- Not more than 2 mg/kg Determine using an atomic absorption technique appropriate to the specified level. The selection of sample size and method of sample preparation may be based on the principles of the method described in Volume 4, “Instrumental Methods.”
Every name it appears under
44 recorded names. A label may use any of them.
CAS registry number
- 87-91-2
Other names
- (+)-(R,R)-DIETHYL TARTRATE
- (+)-Diethyl L-tartrate
- (+)-Diethyl L-tartrate, >=99%
- (+)-Diethyl-2,3-dihydroxysuccinate
- (+)-DIETHYL-L-TARTRATE
- (2R,3R)(+)-Dihydroxybutane-1,4-dioic acid diethyl ester
- (2R,3R)-Diethyl 2,3-dihydroxysuccinate
- (2R,3R)-Diethyl2,3-dihydroxysuccinate
- (r,r)-diethyl tartrate
- (R,R)-TARTARIC ACID DIETHYL ESTER
- 1,4-DIETHYL (2R,3R)-2,3-DIHYDROXYBUTANEDIOATE
- Butanedioic acid, 2,3-d
- Butanedioic acid, 2,3-dihydroxy- (R-(R*,R*)), diethyl ester
- Butanedioic acid, 2,3-dihydroxy- (theta-(theta,theta))-, diethyl ester
- BUTANEDIOIC ACID, 2,3-DIHYDROXY-(2R,3R)-, 1,4-DIETHYL ESTER
- BUTANEDIOIC ACID, 2,3-DIHYDROXY-(2R,3R)-, DIETHYL ESTER
- BUTANEDIOIC ACID, 2,3-DIHYDROXY-(R-(R*,R*))-, DIETHYL ESTER
- Butanedioic acid, 2,3-dihydroxy-, diethyl ester
- CAS-87-91-2
- Dexlansoprazole Impurity 50
- Diethyl (+)-tartrate
- diethyl (2R,3R)-2,3-dihydroxybutanedioate
- diethyl (2R,3R)-2,3-dihydroxysuccinate
- Diethyl 1,2-dihydroxy-1,2-ethanedicarboxylate
- Diethyl 2,3-dihydroxysuccinate
- diethyl L(+)-tartarate
- Diethyl L(+)-tartrate
- Diethyl L-(+)-Tartrate
- DIETHYL L-TARTARATE
- Diethyl L-tartrate
- Diethyl L-tartrate, >=99%, FG
- Diethyl tartrate
- Diethyl tartratene
- Dietyl Tartrate
- Ethyl tartrate
- FEMA No. 2378
- L-(+)-Tartaric acid diethyl ester
- L-DIETHYL TARTRATE
- l-tartaric acid diethyl ester
- Lansoprazole Impurity 24
- OQ72CPY58Z
- Tartaric acid, diethyl ester
- Tartaric acid, diethyl ester, (R,R)-
Hazard reference values
No reference value for this substance in the sources we hold.
Evidence and how bodies read it
Studies, and the differing conclusions regulators drew from them, are curated rather than machine-read, and none has been written for this substance yet.
Common questions
Assembled from what is above, in the words the questions are usually asked in. Each answer is the same statement the relevant section makes, with the same citations behind it.
- What is Diethyl tartrate?
- The diethyl ester of tartaric acid, used as a carrier solvent for flavourings and as a flavouring agent. It is a colourless oily liquid with a faint wine-like odour.
- What is Diethyl tartrate used for in food?
- It is listed as a flavouring agent — the role the US assigns it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
- Is Diethyl tartrate banned in Europe?
- No. Diethyl tartrate is not on the EU's list of authorised food additives, but it would not be expected to be: every role regulators give it — flavouring agent — the EU regulates under separate law. Its absence from the additives list says nothing about whether it is permitted in Europe.
- Where is Diethyl tartrate permitted?
- Of the seven regulators this site reads, the US permits it. Each permission is for named foods at named levels, not a blanket one; the table on this page gives them with citations.
- Is Diethyl tartrate vegan?
- Yes. Diethyl tartrate is not derived from animals, and is suitable for vegetarians. This page says what it is made from and how.
Sources for this page
- us-listings retrieved 2026-10-18
- jecfaspecs retrieved 2026-09-23
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