US 5,492,647 AGrant

Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane Azeotropes

Issue Date:1996-02-20

•14 Claims

Abstract

Binary azeotropes and azeotrope-like compositions contain n-butyl lactate, n-propoxypropanol, 1-butoxy-2-propanol, 1-butoxy-2-ethanol, or 4-methylcyclohexanol, with octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane, and are useful for cleaning, rinsing, or drying.

Metadata

Assignee

Dow Corning Corporation

Inventors

Ora L. Flaningam
Dwight E. Williams

Application Information

Application Number:US 4368959

Filing Date:1995-05-08

Priority Date:1995-05-08

Art Unit:115

Classifications

IPC:

C11D 726C11D 750C23G 5032

Field of Search:

252134DIG. 9;162;170;171;172;174.15;36442;40;39

Patent Drawings

This patent does not have any drawings.

Description

Related and Commonly Assigned U.S. Applications

In Ser. No. 08/260,423 (Jun. 15, 1994) we describe azeotropes of hexamethyldisiloxane (MM) with 3-methyl-3-pentanol, 2-pentanol, or 1-methoxy-2-propanol. A second application Ser. No. 08/289,360 (Aug. 11, 1994) describes azeotropes of octamethyltrisiloxane (MDM) with 2-methyl-1-pentanol; 1-hexanol; 1-butoxy-2-propanol; or ethyl lactate. A third application Ser. No. 08/306,293 (Sep. 15, 1994) describes azeotropes of MDM and n-propoxypropanol. A fourth application Ser. No. 08/322,643 (Oct. 13, 1994) describes methods of cleaning or dewatering surfaces using azeotropes as rinsing agent. A fifth application Ser. No. 08/374,316 (Jan. 18, 1995) describes azeotropes of MDM and 2-butoxyethanol, 2-methylcyclohexanol, or isopropyl lactate. A sixth application Ser. No. 08/427,316 (Apr. 24, 1995) describes azeotropes of MDM and 1-heptanol, cyclohexanol, or 4-methylcyclohexanol.

Background of the Invention

This invention is directed to solvents for cleaning, rinsing, and drying, which are binary azeotropes or azeotrope-like compositions containing a volatile methyl siloxane (VMS).

The value of volatile methyl siloxanes as solvent has been enhanced because the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determined that VMS such as octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D.sub.4), decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D.sub.5), dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D.sub.6), hexamethyldisiloxane (MM), octamethyltrisiloxane (MDM), and decamethyltetrasiloxane (MDDM), are acceptable substitutes for trifluorotrichloroethane (CFC-113) and methylchloroform. EPA also exempted VMS as a volatile organic compound (VOC), and added them to a list of compounds in 40 CFR 51.100(s) excluded from the definition of VOC, because VMS compounds have negligible contribution to tropospheric ozone formation.

Volatile methyl siloxanes have an atmospheric lifetime of 10-30 days and do not contribute significantly to global warming. They have no potential to deplete stratospheric ozone due to short atmospheric lifetimes, so they do not rise and accumulate in the stratosphere. VMS (i) contain no chlorine or bromine atoms; (ii) do not attack the ozone layer; (iii) do not contribute to tropospheric ozone formation (Smog); and (iv) have minimum GLOBAL WARMING potential. VMS are hence unique in simultaneously possessing these attributes, and provide a positive solution to the problem of finding new replacement solvents.

Summary of the Invention

The invention relates to new binary azeotropes containing a volatile methyl siloxane and an aliphatic or alicyclic alcohol. Azeotrope-like compositions were also discovered. The azeotrope and azeotrope-like compositions have utility as environmentally friendly cleaning, rinsing, and drying agents.

As cleaning agents, the compositions can be used to remove contaminants from any surface, but especially in defluxing and precision cleaning, low-pressure vapor degreasing, and vapor phase cleaning. They exhibit unexpected advantages in their enhanced solvency power, and maintenance of a constant solvency power following evaporation, which can occur during applications involving vapor phase cleaning, distillation regeneration, and wipe cleaning.

Because the cleaning agent is an azeotrope or an azeotrope-like composition, it has another advantage in being easily recovered and recirculated. Thus, the composition can be separated as a single substance from a contaminated cleaning bath after its use in the cleaning process. By simple distillation, its regeneration is facilitated so that it can be freshly recirculated.

In addition, these compositions provide the unexpected benefit in being higher in siloxane fluid content and correspondingly lower in alcohol content, than azeotropes of siloxane fluids and low molecular weight alcohols such as ethanol. The surprising result is that the compositions are less inclined to generate tropospheric ozone and smog. Another surprising result in using these compositions is that they possess an enhanced solvency power compared to the volatile methyl siloxane itself. Yet, the compositions exhibit a mild solvency power making them useful for cleaning delicate surfaces without harm.

These and other objects will become apparent from considering the detailed description.

Detailed Description of the Invention

An azeotrope is a mixture of two or more liquids, the composition of which does not change upon distillation. Thus, a mixture of 95% ethanol and 5% water boils at a lower temperature (78.15.degree. C.) than pure ethanol (78.3.degree. C.) or pure water (100.degree. C.). Such liquid mixtures behave like a single substance in that the vapor produced by partial evaporation of liquid has the same composition as the liquid. Thus, the mixtures distill at a constant temperature without change in composition and cannot be separated by normal distillation.

Azeotropes can exist in systems containing two liquids as binary azeotropes, three liquids as ternary azeotropes, and four liquids as quaternary azeotropes. However, azeotropism is an unpredictable phenomenon and each azeotrope or azeotrope-like composition must be discovered. The unpredictability of azeotrope formation is well documented in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,085,065, 4,155,865, 4,157,976, 4,994,202, or 5,064,560. One of ordinary skill in the art cannot predict or expect azeotrope formation, even among positional or constitutional isomers (i.e. butyl, isobutyl, sec-butyl, and tert-butyl).

For purposes of our invention, a mixture of two or more components is azeotropic if it vaporizes with no change in the composition of the vapor from the liquid. Specifically, azeotropic includes mixtures that boil without changing composition, and mixtures that evaporate at a temperature below their boiling point without changing composition. Accordingly, an azeotropic composition may include mixtures of two components over a range of proportions where each specific proportion of the two components is azeotropic at a certain temperature but not necessarily at other temperatures.

Azeotropes vaporize with no change in composition. If the applied pressure is above the vapor pressure of the azeotrope, it evaporates without change. If the applied pressure is below the vapor pressure of the azeotrope, it boils or distills without change. The vapor pressure of low boiling azeotropes is higher, and the boiling point is lower, than the individual components. In fact, the azeotropic composition has the lowest boiling point of any composition of its components. Thus, an azeotrope can be obtained by distillation of a mixture whose composition initially departs from that of the azeotrope.

Since only certain combinations of components form azeotropes, the formation of an azeotrope cannot be found without experimental vapor-liquid-equilibria data, that is vapor and liquid compositions at constant total pressure or temperature, for various mixtures of the components. The composition of some azeotropes is invariant to temperature, but in many cases, the azeotropic composition shifts with temperature. As a function of temperature, the azeotropic composition can be determined from high quality vapor-liquid-equilibria data at a given temperature. Commercial software such as ASPENPLUS.RTM., a program of Aspen Technology, Inc., Cambridge, Mass., is available to assist one in doing the statistical analysis necessary to make such determinations. Given our experimental data, programs such as ASPENPLUS.RTM. can calculate parameters from which complete tables of composition and vapor pressure are generated. This allows one to determine where a true azeotropic composition is located.

The art also recognizes the existence of azeotrope-like compositions. For purposes of our invention, azeotrope-like means a composition that behaves like an azeotrope. Thus, azeotrope-like compositions have constant boiling characteristics, or have a tendency not to fractionate upon boiling or evaporation. In an azeotrope-like mixture, the composition of the vapor formed during boiling or evaporation is identical or substantially identical to the composition of the original liquid. During boiling or evaporation, the liquid changes only minimally, or to a negligible extent, if it changes at all. In other words, it has about the same composition in vapor phase as in liquid phase when employed at reflux. In contrast, the liquid composition of non-azeotrope-like mixtures change to a substantial degree during boiling or evaporation. By definition, azeotrope-like compositions include all ratios of the azeotropic components boiling within one .degree.C. of the minimum boiling point at 760 Torr.

The VMS component of our azeotrope and azeotrope-like composition is octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane [(CH.sub.3).sub.2 SiO].sub.4. It has a viscosity of 2.3 mm.sup.2 /s (centistokes) at 25.degree. C., and is often referred to in the literature as "D.sub.4 " since it contains four difunctional "D" units (CH.sub.3).sub.2 SiO.sub.2/2 : ##STR1##

The "D" units combine to form octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane shown below: ##STR2##

D.sub.4 is a clear fluid, essentially odorless, nontoxic, nongreasy, nonstinging, and nonirritating to skin. It leaves no residue after 30 minutes at room temperature (20.degree.-25.degree. C./68.degree.-77.degree. F.) when one gram is placed at the center of No. 1 circular filter paper (diameter 185 mm) supported at its perimeter in open room atmosphere. Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane has a higher viscosity (2.3 cs) and is thicker than water (1.0 cs) yet needs 94% less heat to evaporate than water. In the literature, it is also referred to as CYCLOMETHICONE or TETRAMER.

The other components of our azeotrope and azeotrope-like compositions are (i) n-butyl lactate CH.sub.3 CH(OH)CO.sub.2 (CH.sub.2).sub.3 CH.sub.3 an alcohol ester; (ii) n-propoxypropanol (1-propoxy-2-propanol) C.sub.3 H.sub.7 OCH.sub.2 CH(CH.sub.3)OH an alkoxy containing aliphatic alcohol sold under the trademark DOWANOL.RTM. PnP as propylene glycol n-propyl ether by The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich.; (iii) 1-butoxy-2-propanol C.sub.4 H.sub.9 OCH.sub.2 CH(CH.sub.3)OH an alkoxy containing aliphatic alcohol sold under the trademark DOWANOL.RTM. PnB as propylene glycol n-butyl ether by The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich.; (iv) 1-butoxy-2-ethanol (2-butoxyethanol) C.sub.4 H.sub.9 OCH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 OH an alkoxy containing aliphatic alcohol sold under the trademark DOWANOL.RTM. EB as ethylene glycol n-butyl ether by The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich.; and (v) 4-methylcyclohexanol CH.sub.3 C.sub.6 H.sub.10 OH an alicyclic alcohol and mixture of its "cis" and "trans" forms.

The boiling points of these liquids in .degree.C. measured at standard barometric pressure (760 Torr) are 175.degree. for D.sub.4 ; 188.degree. for n-butyl lactate; 149.8.degree. for n-propoxypropanol; 170.degree. for 1-butoxy-2-propanol; 171.degree. for 1-butoxy-2-ethanol; and 171.degree. for 4-methylcyclohexanol.

New binary azeotropes were discovered containing (i) 70-99% by weight D.sub.4 and 1-30% by weight n-butyl lactate; (ii) 18-29% by weight D.sub.4 and 71-82% by weight n-propoxypropanol; (iii) 49-57% by weight D.sub.4 and 43-51% by weight 1-butoxy-2-propanol; (iv) 61-70% by weight D.sub.4 and 30-39% by weight 1-butoxy-2-ethanol; and (v) 66-97% by weight D.sub.4 and 3-34% by weight 4-methylcyclohexanol.

These compositions were homogeneous and had a single liquid phase at the azeotropic temperature and at room temperature. Homogeneous azeotropes are more desirable than heterogeneous azeotropes especially for cleaning, because homogeneous azeotropes exist as one liquid phase instead of two. In contrast, each phase of a heterogeneous azeotrope differs in cleaning power. Therefore, cleaning performance of a heterogeneous azeotrope is difficult to reproduce, because it depends on consistent mixing of the phases. Single phase (homogeneous) azeotropes are also more useful than multi-phase (heterogeneous) azeotropes since they can be transferred between locations with facility.

Each homogeneous azeotrope we discovered existed over a particular temperature range. Within that range, the azeotropic composition shifted with temperature. This example illustrates our invention.

Example I

We used a single-plate distillation apparatus for measuring vapor-liquid-equilibria. The liquid mixture was boiled and the vapor condensed in a small receiver. The receiver had an overflow path for recirculation to the boiling liquid. When equilibrium was established, samples of boiling liquid and condensed vapor were separately removed, and quantitatively analyzed by gas chromatography. The temperature, ambient pressure, and liquid-vapor compositions, were measured at several different initial composition points. This data was used to determine if an azeotrope or azeotrope-like composition existed. The composition at different temperatures was determined using our data in an ASPENPLUS.RTM. software program which performed a statistical analysis of the data. Our new azeotropes are shown in Tables I-V. In the tables, WEIGHT % D4 is weight percent octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane in the azeotrope. VP is vapor pressure in Torr units (1 Torr: 0.133 kPa=1 mm Hg). Accuracy in determining these compositions was .+-.2% by weight.

The tables show that at different temperatures, the composition of a given azeotrope varies. Thus, an azeotrope represents a variable composition which depends on temperature.

We also discovered azeotrope-like compositions containing D.sub.4 and n-butyl lactate, n-propoxypropanol, 1-butoxy-2-propanol, 1-butoxy-2-ethanol, or 4-methylcyclohexanol. For example, azeotrope-like compositions of D.sub.4 and n-butyl lactate were found at 760 Torr vapor pressure for all ratios of the components, where the weight percent n-butyl lactate varied between 12-51% and the weight percent D.sub.4 varied between 49-88%. These azeotrope-like compositions had a normal boiling point (the boiling point at 760 Torr) that was within one .degree.C. of 171.degree. C., which is the normal boiling point of the azeotrope itself. Azeotrope-like compositions of D.sub.4 and n-propoxypropanol, 1-butoxy-2-propanol, 1-butoxy-2-ethanol, and 4-methylcyclohexanol, were also found at 760 Torr vapor pressure for all ratios of the components, where the weight percent n-propoxypropanol, 1-butoxy-2-propanol, 1-butoxy-2-ethanol, and 4-methylcyclohexanol, varied as shown in Table VI. These azeotrope-like compositions also had a normal boiling point (the boiling point at 760 Torr) that was within one .degree.C. of the normal boiling point of the azeotrope itself.

The procedure for determining these azeotrope-like compositions was the same as Example I. The azeotrope-like compositions were homogeneous and have the same utility as their azeotropes.

An especially useful application of our azeotrope and azeotrope-like composition is cleaning and removing fluxes used in mounting and soldering electronic parts on printed circuit boards. Solder is often used in making mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic connections. In making electronic connections, components are attached to conductor paths of printed wiring assemblies by wave, reflow, or manual soldering. The solder is usually a tin-lead alloy used with a rosin-based flux. Fluxes containing rosin, a complex mixture of isomeric acids principally abietic acid, often contain activators such as amine hydrohalides and organic acids. The flux (i) reacts with and removes surface compounds such as oxides, (ii) reduces the surface tension of the molten solder alloy, and (iii) prevents oxidation during the heating cycle by providing a surface blanket to the base metal and solder alloy.

After the soldering operation, it is usually necessary to clean the assembly. The compositions of our invention are useful as cleaners. They remove Corrosive flux residues formed on areas unprotected by the flux during soldering, or residues which could cause malfunctioning and short circuiting of electronic assemblies. In this application, our compositions can be used as cold cleaners, vapor degreasers, or ultrasonically. The compositions can also be used to remove carbonaceous materials from the surface of these and other industrial articles. By carbonaceous is meant any carbon containing compound or mixture of carbon containing compounds soluble in common organic solvents such as hexane, toluene, or trichloroethane.

We selected six azeotropic compositions for cleaning a rosin-based solder flux as soil. Cleaning tests were conducted at 22.degree. C. in an open bath with no distillation recycle of the composition. The compositions contained 27% n-butyl lactate, 82% n-propoxypropanol, 43% 1-butoxy-2-propanol, 49% 1-butoxy:2-propanol, 39% 1-butoxy-2-ethanol, and 32% 4-methylcyclohexanol. They removed flux although all were not equally effective. This example further illustrates our invention.

Example Ii

We used an activated rosin-based solder flux commonly used for electrical and electronic assemblies. It was KESTER 1544, a product of Kester Solder Division-Litton Industries, Des Plaines, Ill. Its approximate composition is 50% by weight modified rosin, 25% by weight ethanol, 25% by weight 2-butanol, and 1% by weight proprietary activator. The rosin flux was mixed with 0.05% by weight of nonreactive low viscosity silicone glycol flow-out additive. A uniform thin layer of the mixture was applied to a 2".times.3" (5.1.times.7.6 cm) area of an aluminum panel and spread out evenly with the edge of a spatula. The coating was allowed to dry at room temperature and cured at 100.degree. C. for 10 minutes in an air oven. The panel was placed in a large magnetically stirred beaker filled one-third with azeotrope. Cleaning was conducted while rapidly stirring at room temperature even when cleaning with higher temperature azeotropes. The panel was removed at timed intervals, dried at room temperature, weighed, and re-immersed for additional cleaning. The initial coating weight and weight loss were measured as functions of cumulative cleaning time as shown in Table VII.

In Table VII, n-butyl lactate is N-BUTLAC; n-propoxypropanol is n-PROPRO; 1-butoxy-2-propanol is 1-BUTPRO; 1-butoxy-2-ethanol is 1-BUTETH; and 4-methylcyclohexanol is 4-METHYL. WT % is weight percent alcohol. TEMP is azeotropic temperature in .degree.C. WT is initial weight of coating in grams. Time is cumulative time after 1, 5, 10, and 30 minute intervals. Composition 7 is a CONTROL of 100% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane used for comparison. Table VII shows that our azeotropic compositions 1-6 were more effective cleaners than CONTROL 7.

Our azeotrope and azeotrope-like compositions have several advantages for cleaning, rinsing, or drying. They can be regenerated by distillation so performance of the cleaning mixture is restored after periods of use. Other performance factors affected by the compositions are bath life, cleaning speed, lack of flammability when one component is non-flammable, and lack of damage to sensitive parts. In vapor phase degreasing, the compositions can be restored by continuous distillation at atmospheric or reduced pressure, and continually recycled. In such applications, cleaning or rinsing can be conducted at the boiling point by plunging the part into the boiling liquid, or allowing the refluxing vapor to condense on the cold part. Alternatively, the part can be immersed in a cooler bath continually fed with fresh condensate, while dirty overflow liquid is returned to a sump. In the later case, the part is cleaned in a continually renewed liquid with maximum cleaning power.

When used in open systems, composition and performance remain constant even though evaporative losses occur. Such systems can be operated at room temperature as ambient cleaning baths or wipe-on-by-hand cleaners. Cleaning baths can also be operated at elevated temperatures but below their boiling point; since cleaning, rinsing, or drying, often occur faster at elevated temperature, and are desirable when the part being cleaned and equipment permit.

Our compositions are beneficial when used to rinse water displacement fluids from (i) mechanical and electrical parts such as gear boxes or electric motors, and (ii) other articles made of metal, ceramic, glass, and plastic, such as electronic and semiconductor parts; precision parts such as ball bearings; optical parts such as lenses, photographic, or camera parts; and military or space hardware such as precision guidance equipment used in defense and aerospace industries. Our compositions are effective as rinsing fluid, even though most water displacement fluids contain small amounts of one or more surfactants, and our compositions (i) more thoroughly remove residual surfactant on the part; (ii) reduce carry-over loss of rinse fluid; and (iii) increase the extent of water displacement.

Cleaning can be conducted by using a given azeotrope or azeotrope-like composition at or near its azeotropic temperature or at some other temperature. It can be used alone, or combined with small amounts of one or more organic liquid additives capable of enhancing oxidative stability, corrosion inhibition, or solvency. Oxidative stabilizers in amounts of about 0.05-5% by weight inhibit slow oxidation of organic compounds such as alcohols. Corrosion inhibitors in amounts of about 0.1-5% by weight prevent metal corrosion by traces of acids that may be present or slowly form in alcohols. Solvency enhancers in amounts of about 1-10% by weight increase solvency power by adding a more powerful solvent.

These additives can mitigate undesired effects of alcohol components of our azeotrope and azeotrope-like composition, since the alcohol is not as resistant to oxidative degradation as the volatile methyl siloxane. Numerous additives are suitable, as the VMS is miscible with small amounts of many additives. The additive, however, must be one in which the resulting liquid mixture is homogeneous and single phased, and one that does not significantly affect the azeotrope or azeotrope-like character of the composition.

Useful oxidative stabilizers are phenols such as trimethylphenol, cyclohexylphenol, thymol, 2,6-di-t-butyl-4-methylphenol, butylhydroxyanisole, and isoeugenol; amines such as hexylamine, pentylamine, dipropylamine, diisopropylamine, diisobutylamine, triethylamine, tributylamine, pyridine, N-methylmorpholine, cyclohexylamine, 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine, and N,N'-diallyl-p-phenylenediamine; and triazoles such as benzotriazole, 2-(2'-hydroxy-5'-methyl phenyl )benzotriazole, and chlorobenzotriazole.

Useful corrosion inhibitors are acetylenic alcohols such as 3-methyl-1-butyn-3-ol, and 3-methyl-1-pentyn-3-ol; epoxides such as glycidol, methyl glycidyl ether, allyl glycidyl ether, phenyl glycidyl ether, 1,2-butylene oxide, cyclohexene oxide, and epichlorohydrin; ethers such as dimethoxymethane, 1,2-dimethoxyethane, 1,4-dioxane, and 1,3,5-trioxane; unsaturated hydrocarbons such as hexene, heptene, octene, 2,4,4-trimethyl-1-pentene, pentadiene, octadiene, cyclohexene, and cyclopentene; olefin based alcohols such as allyl alcohol, and 1-butene-3-ol; and acrylic acid esters such as methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, and butyl acrylate.

Useful solvency enhancers are hydrocarbons such as pentane, isopentane, hexane, isohexane, and heptane; nitroalkanes such as nitromethane, nitroethane, and nitropropane; amines such as diethylamine, triethylamine, isopropylamine, butylamine, and isobutylamine; alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, n-propyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, n-butanol, and isobutanol; ethers such as methyl CELLOSOLVE.RTM., tetrahydrofuran, and 1,4-dioxane; ketones such as acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, and methyl butyl ketone; and esters such as ethyl acetate, propyl acetate, and butyl acetate.

Other variations may be made in compositions and methods described without departing from the essentials of the invention, the forms of which are exemplary and not limitations on scope.

Claims

That which is claimed is:

1. A composition consisting essentially of an azeotrope selected from the group consisting of (a) about 70-99% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and about 1-30% by weight n-butyl lactate wherein the composition is homogenous and azeotropic at a temperature within the range of about 100.degree.-180.9.degree. C. inclusive and wherein the composition has a vapor pressure of about 65 Torr at 100.degree. C. when the composition consists essentially of 99% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 1% by weight n-butyl lactate and wherein the composition has a vapor pressure of about 1,000 Torr at 180.9.degree. C. when the composition consists essentially of 70% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 30% by weight n-butyl lactate; (b) about 18-29% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and about 71-82% by weight n-propoxypropanol wherein the composition is homogenous and azeotropic at a temperature within the range of about 0.degree.-157.4.degree. C. inclusive and wherein the composition has a vapor pressure of about 0.86 Torr at 0.degree. C. when the composition consists essentially of 29% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 71% by weight n-propoxypropanol and wherein the composition has a vapor pressure of about 1,000 Torr at 157.4.degree. C. when the composition consists essentially of 18% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 82% by weight n-propoxypropanol; (c) about 49-57% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and about 43-51% by weight 1-butoxy-2-propanol wherein the composition is homogenous and azeotropic at a temperature within the range of about 0-177.3.degree. C. inclusive and wherein the composition has a vapor pressure of about 0.18 Torr at 0.degree. C. when the composition consists essentially of 49% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 51% by weight 1-butoxy-2-propanol and wherein the composition has a vapor pressure of about 1,000 Torr at 177.3.degree. when the composition consists essentially of 55% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 45% by weight 1-butoxy-2-propanol; (d) about 61-70% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and about 30-39% by weight 1-butoxy-2-ethanol wherein the composition is homogenous and azeotropic at a temperature within the range of about 0.degree.-174.5.degree. C. inclusive and wherein the composition has a vapor pressure of about 0.16 Torr at 0.degree. C. when the composition consists essentially of 70% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 30% by weight 1-butoxy-2-ethanol and wherein the composition has a vapor pressure of about 1,000 Torr at 174.5.degree. C. when the composition consists essentially of 61% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 39% by weight 1-butoxy-2-ethanol; and (e) about 66-97% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and about 3-34% by weight 4-methylcyclohexanol wherein the composition is homogenous and azeotropic at a temperature within the range of about 0.degree.-173.7.degree. C. inclusive and wherein the composition has a vapor pressure of about 0.13 Torr at 0.degree. C. when the composition consists essentially of 97% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 3% by weight 4-methylcyclohexanol and wherein the composition has a vapor pressure of about 1,000 Torr at 173.7.degree. C. when the composition consists essentially of 66% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 34% by weight 4-methylcyclohexanol.

2. An azeotropic composition according to claim 1 consisting essentially of 70-99% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 1-30% by weight n-butyl lactate.

3. An azeotropic composition according to claim 1 consisting essentially of 18-29% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 71-82% by weight n-propoxypropanol.

4. An azeotropic composition according to claim 1 consisting essentially o of 49-57% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 43-51% by weight 1-butoxy-2-propanol.

5. An azeotropic composition according to claim 1 consisting essentially of 61-70% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 30-39% by weight 1-butoxy-2-ethanol.

6. An azeotropic composition according to claim 1 consisting essentially 66-97% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 3-34% by weight 4-methylcyclohexanol.

7. A method of cleaning, rinsing, or drying the surface of an article comprising applying to the surface an azeotropic composition defined in claim 1.

8. A composition consisting essentially of an azeotrope-like composition selected from the group consisting of (a) about 49-88% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and about 12-51% by weight n-butyl lactate wherein the composition is homogenous and azeotrope-like at a temperature within one degree of 171.degree. C. at 760 Torr; (b) about 1-51% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and about 49-99% by weight n-propoxypropanol wherein the composition is homogenous and azeotrope-like at a temperature within one degree of 148.3.degree. C. at 760 Torr; (c) about 27-76% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and about 24-73% by weight 1-butoxy-2-propanol wherein the composition is homogenous and azeotrope-like at a temperature within one degree of 167.degree. C. at 760 Torr; (d) about 25-80% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and about 20-75% by weight 1-butoxy-2-ethanol wherein the composition is homogenous and azeotrope-like at a temperature within one degree of 164.5.degree. C. at 760 Torr; and (e) about 44-84% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and about 16-56% by weight 4-methylcyclohexanol wherein the composition is homogenous and azeotrope-like at a temperature within one degree of 164.1 .degree. C. at 760 Torr.

9. An azeotrope-like composition according to claim 8 consisting essentially of 49-88% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 12-51% by weight n-butyl lactate.

10. An azeotrope-like composition according to claim 8 consisting essentially of 1-51% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 49-99% by weight n-propoxypropanol.

11. An azeotrope-like composition according to claim 8 consisting essentially of 27-76% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 24-73% by weight 1-butoxy-2-propanol.

12. An azeotrope-like composition according to claim 8 consisting essentially of 25-80% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 20-75% by weight 1-butoxy-2-ethanol.

13. An azeotrope-like composition according to claim 8 consisting essentially of 44-84% by weight octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 16-56% by weight 4-methylcyclohexanol.

14. A method of cleaning, rinsing, or drying the surface of an article comprising applying to the surface an azeotrope-like composition defined in claim 8.

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