Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Sodium percarbonate

CrimpJiggler - 24-6-2017 at 02:45

I spotted a fabric stain remover in my kitchen (a plastic container of crystalline granules) and decided to check out what its made of. Sodium carbonate peroxide. That caught my attention, thats for sure. I'm just wondering what useful reagents I can use it to make, or what useful things I can do with it (other than removing stains from fabrics).

I checked out the wiki page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_percarbonate

Its not pure percarbonate:
Quote:

The average percentage of an "Oxy" product in the supermarket is 65% sodium percarbonate and 35% washing soda. The "ultra boosters" seen on infomercials may contain as much as 80% sodium percarbonate. However, sodium percarbonate is less expensive in its pure form[citation needed] and can be adjusted to any percentage the user desires


But from what I read about some of the reactions its used for, thats insignificant:
Quote:

Sodium percarbonate can be used in organic synthesis as a convenient source of anhydrous H2O2, in particular in solvents that cannot dissolve the carbonate but can leach the H2O2 out of it.[7] A method for generating trifluoroperacetic acid in situ for use in Baeyer–Villiger oxidations from sodium percarbonate and trifluoroacetic anhydride has been reported; it provides a convenient and cheap approach to this reagent without the need to obtain highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide.


Turning TFA anhydride into TFA is of no interest to me, but I'm wondering what other Baeyer-Viiliger Oxidations this might come in handy for. I'll research this in depth when I have the time, I just wanted to start a thread to see if anyone here has explored the uses of this cheap, ubiquitous, easily obtained reagent.

Basically any reaction where one needs a source of anhydrous H2O2 for a reaction involving a solvent in which sodium carbonate is insoluble? But I suppose a question that comes to mind is, are these stain removal products anhydrous. Something tells me no. I'm not very educated about H2O2 so I wouldn't know off the top of my head any good routes of making it anhydrous, other than using a large quantity of a drying agent vastly more hygroscopic than sodium carbonate and leaving it in a desiccating chamber for a few days.



[Edited on 24-6-2017 by CrimpJiggler]

[Edited on 24-6-2017 by CrimpJiggler]

AJKOER - 25-6-2017 at 03:19

Before using commercial percarbonates, check out this thread https://www.sciencemadness.org/whisper/viewthread.php?tid=73... .

Melgar - 26-6-2017 at 11:38

Sodium percarbonate doesn't form hydrates, so vacuum drying, or just heating it on really low in an oven for a while would get it dry enough, I imagine.

edit: fixed

[Edited on 6/26/17 by Melgar]

Melgar - 26-6-2017 at 12:01

Quote: Originally posted by JJay  
Sodium carbonate certainly does form hydrates. The common commercial form is the monohydrate; in its anhydrous form it is hygroscopic. It is not fully dehydrated below around 260 C or so. Other forms include a heptahydrate and a decahydrate.

Err, I actually meant "PERcarbonate". IIRC, sodium percarbonate has hydrogen peroxide instead of water, no?

JJay - 26-6-2017 at 12:15

Quote: Originally posted by Melgar  
Quote: Originally posted by JJay  
Sodium carbonate certainly does form hydrates. The common commercial form is the monohydrate; in its anhydrous form it is hygroscopic. It is not fully dehydrated below around 260 C or so. Other forms include a heptahydrate and a decahydrate.

Err, I actually meant "PERcarbonate". IIRC, sodium percarbonate has hydrogen peroxide instead of water, no?


Kind of. I don't know that much about it, but it looks like it has 1.5 moles of hydrogen peroxide per mole of sodium carbonate. The product the OP is considering would also contain sodium carbonate that is not in an adduct with hydrogen peroxide. That sodium carbonate would tend to absorb or emit water to form the monohydrate at room temperature.

symboom - 12-5-2018 at 20:04



Aluminum sulfate could react with the sodium percarbonate react with the sodium carbonate forming sodium sulfate and aluminum carbonate which decomposes into aluminum hydroxide and CO2

Calcium chloride and sodium percarbonate forming calcium carbonate and hydrogen peroxide and sodium chloride


Zinc sulfate and sodium percarbonate
Zinc carbonate and sodium sulfate


Zinc aluminum and calcium are stablle ions around peroxide


These three also have percipitate forming reactions
Which can be filtered from the peroxide

Edited because odd wording

[Edited on 14-5-2018 by symboom]

DrEvidence - 13-5-2018 at 18:11

Quote: Originally posted by symboom  
I think i figured


Nah man, try again :(
Quote: Originally posted by symboom  
Edited because odd wording


Nah wording, but methods, i still don't see any separation possible. NaCl stays in solution...

[Edited on 14-5-2018 by DrEvidence]