Choline chloride

Choline chloride or N-(2-Hydroxyethyl)trimethylammonium chloride is an organic compound and a quaternary ammonium salt. The counterion is chlorine. In the laboratory choline can be prepared by methylation of dimethylethanolamine with methyl chloride. In the industrial Davy process choline chloride is produced from ethylene oxide, hydrochloric acid, and trimethylamine. Alternative names are hepacholine, biocolina and lipotril.

Applications
Choline chloride is mass produced and is an important additive in feed especially for chicken where it accelerates growth. With urea it forms a deep eutectic solvent. Other commercial choline salts are choline hydroxide and choline bitartrate. In foodstuffs the compound is often present as phosphatidylcholine.