jamit - 10-10-2013 at 06:16
Someone was throwing away 1l of trichloroethylene.
What are some experimental uses for this solvent? It looks like it was banned back in the 70s. Has anyone used this solvent and how useful can it be
in a home lab?
Mailinmypocket - 10-10-2013 at 06:29
Well... You could always give this a try:
http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=2063
To be fair though, aside from trying those experiments I have never used mine all that much either.
I didn't know it was banned, is this a US thing? It can be bought here no problem.
jamit - 10-10-2013 at 20:57
Any idea what I can use trichloroethylene for? Experiments ??? Any synthesis?
papaya - 11-10-2013 at 03:27
With dichloroethane one can synthesize "thiokol" rubber (done myself, search the forum), it'll be interesting to see if the thing you have similarly
yields anything interesting (well, there's double bond, but who knows).
jamit - 11-10-2013 at 22:32
What I thought was a 1liter trichloroethylene turns out to be a 5 gallon barrel - for 20.00! What the hell am I going to do with this much
trichloroethylene? It's seems like this is only good for extractions....looks like very few people on this forum has used this solvent for any
synthesis... Or am I wrong?
Nicodem - 11-10-2013 at 22:56
Is there any particular reason for not using the forum search engine?
UnintentionalChaos - 11-10-2013 at 23:21
I think sulfuric acid hydrolysis is supposed to yield chloroacetic acid which is a very useful material. For example, it can be converted into
nitromethane, can be used to make N-alkyl/aryl glycines, can participate in the Michaelis–Arbuzov reaction producing the starting material for a
Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons reaction, it can be used to make benzofurans and possibly precursor materials for indigo dyes, and it's used to make EDTA
and other chelating ligands.
I'm not sure this is viable to do at home, but it may be worth looking into. I know it was discussed in some older threads.
[Edited on 10-12-13 by UnintentionalChaos]
jamit - 6-9-2014 at 01:58
Thanks unintentionalchaos! I'll look into the hydrolysis with sulfuric acid to yield chloroacetic acid.
Btw, I missed your videos on youtube.
IrC - 6-9-2014 at 10:45
The use of the greatest amount I know of was Chrysler Air Temp. Giant heated baths where rows of tubing after bending in Carbide Mandrels were
immersed for removing oils just prior to insertion into end tanks with solder rings. From there to ovens which did the soldering thus completing the
freon radiator which fit in the grill along with the engines radiator. When I was a teenager I lived near a plant and many friends that were a couple
years older worked there doing all the above I just described. Having long ago lost contact with them I must wonder how many died early from various
cancers. The vats were open top and held a few hundred gallons of hot tri-chlor (the name they called it). Hell on plastics as well. One of them
brought by a rubber (Latex?) glove you could almost fit over your head. Giant monstrosity they swore was a glove they found in the vat that someone
lost on a prior shift. Somehow in the hot solvent it just started growing, very uniformly it appeared to have been made for a giant. While chemistry
is not my main subject I did conclude somehow linkages were re-arranged into longer chains. While likely much thinner it really appeared to have been
made that large even though it started out as a normal glove the workers used. In any case it's main use in the US was ASFAIK a de-greasing solvent.
Dr.Bob - 6-9-2014 at 18:32
Trichloroethylene is a great solvent for many purposes, was used for dry cleaning for years, plus degreasing auto parts and metal parts. The 5L is
worth a bit just for solvent purposes, you might be able to sell or trade some of it.
And it is easily redistilled to purify it after use. Just don't inhale it, get it on your skin, or dispose of it poorly.
BromicAcid - 6-9-2014 at 20:12
The Angry Genie
With caution of course.
Metacelsus - 7-9-2014 at 05:30
A few miles from where I live there is an area contaminated with trichloroethylene. Be careful with disposal, as it is very hard to remediate.