I found some MEK substitute (ethyl acetate) at my local hardware store and im in the process of purifying it. I first performed a simple distillation
followed by a fractional distillation and collected everything distilling at 76.5-77.1c.
I then added 146ml of ethyl acetate to a RBF followed by 14.6ml of acetic anhydride + 3 drops of concentrates H2SO4.
I am now refluxing this for 4 hours followed by a distillation.
After the distillation I would like to dry the ethyl acetate but all I have is MgSO4.
Everything that I have read does not recommend drying with MgSO4 but does not say why.
Has anyone tried drying ethyl acetate with MgSO4? Why is this not recommended?
I was planning on adding the MgSO4 and stirring for 30min followed by distillation...
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