could one add aqueous HCl to anhydrous ethanol, then use e.g. MgSO4 or molecular sieves to get rid of the water?
i'm worried about the drying agents not working properly in a very acidic solution...ParadoxChem126 - 22-12-2015 at 02:04
Bubble HCl gas through ethanol directly. The quantity of drying agent needed to absorb that much water is extremely impractical. Remember that OTC
hydrochloric acid is only 20-30% HCl.NitreRat - 22-12-2015 at 12:25
First off, ethanol can't be dried with MgSO4 or CaCl2. You need to use 3A molecular sieves. Bearing that in mind, I suppose it depends on whether you
want a saturated ethanolic HCl solution or a dilute one. If you add 5 ml of concentrated HCl to 200ml of ethanol, you could probably remove the water
with drying agents or azeotropic drying (which is a much more elegant solution than drying agents).
An idea that I just thought of: dissolve anhydrous Calcium chloride in ethanol and add H2SO4 to precipitate CaSO4.Metacelsus - 22-12-2015 at 13:04
If you already have a chloride salt (like calcium chloride) and concentrated sulfuric acid, you should just generate HCl gas, and bubble it into
ethanol. I wouldn't bother trying to mess around with precipitation.
[Edited on 12-22-2015 by Cheddite Cheese]NitreRat - 22-12-2015 at 13:15
If you already have a chloride salt (like calcium chloride) and concentrated sulfuric acid, you should just generate HCl gas, and bubble it into
ethanol. I wouldn't bother trying to mess around with precipitation.
True, but working with hydrogen chloride gas requires slightly more sophisticated equipment and is slightly more hazardous, so might not be an ideal
solution for an absolute beginner.psychotic - 23-12-2015 at 02:13
yeah, i was trying to find an alternative to working with HCl gas.
MgSO4 doesn't work for drying ethanol?
btw, i just googled 'copper sulfate drying ethanol' and found an youtube video from you Paradox nice channel man.woelen - 23-12-2015 at 04:39
Copper sulfate can be used for drying ethanol, but if the ethanol contains HCl as well, then you will have some CuCl2 dissolved in the ethanol as
well. Anhydrous CuCl2 is covalent and dissolves in ethanol very well, giving yellow/brown solutions.
As others already said: Bubble dry HCl through already dried ethanol. The preparation of some chemicals simply requires more sophisticated apparatus
than simple jars and beakers. A dry solution of HCl in ethanol is one of them.ParadoxChem126 - 23-12-2015 at 21:36
nice channel man.