Jackson
Hazard to Others
Posts: 189
Registered: 22-5-2018
Location: U S of A
Member Is Offline
Mood: Happy about new glassware
|
|
Acetonitrile synth
I found a paper about the synthesis of acetonitrile from ammoxidation of ethanol with acetaldhyde being an intermediate that is what actually reacts.
In the paper, MnO2 is listed as a catalyst. Also the reaction tempatures for the ammoxidation of ethanol are much higher than its boiling point. It
also says that the reaction could be performed at a lower tempature. My question is, could I essentially put ethanol, hydrogen peroxide, ammonia
solution, and potassium permanganate into a bomb and heat it for a while?
Link to the paper:
http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/5743/1/Federico_Folco_tesi.pdf
|
|
unionised
International Hazard
Posts: 5119
Registered: 1-11-2003
Location: UK
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
Apart from the likelihood of "bomb" being rather too accurate a term for what happens...
It's very unlikely that you would get significant acetonitrile formation in the presence of water.
|
|
clearly_not_atara
International Hazard
Posts: 2778
Registered: 3-11-2013
Member Is Offline
Mood: Big
|
|
Why do people prefer complicated speculative syntheses rather than the published easy ones?
|
|
S.C. Wack
bibliomaster
Posts: 2419
Registered: 7-5-2004
Location: Cornworld, Central USA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Enhanced
|
|
The preference appears to be to start threads and often accounts to try to make other people waste their time in response to some esoteric thing
pulled from a dark hole, often with added BS.
|
|
Jackson
Hazard to Others
Posts: 189
Registered: 22-5-2018
Location: U S of A
Member Is Offline
Mood: Happy about new glassware
|
|
Sorry, I just couldn’t find a procedure in the paper I linked.
It also said that it was performed with azetropic ethanol, ammonia gas and air as an oxygen source. The reason why I asked about switching out MnO2
for KMnO4 was because what o read from the paper was that acetaldye was the actual thing reacting in the ammoxidation reaction, and because ethanol
could be oxidized to acetaldehyde by KMnO4, with MnO2 being left, I thought that it may be a better option that could help the reaction go along.
Also, I Am now thinking that the reaction is supposed to happen in the gas phase as the reaction is heated. I think I would need a pretty good
condenser to reflux ethanol at 400c though.
[Edited on 2/1/2019 by Jackson]
|
|
Jackson
Hazard to Others
Posts: 189
Registered: 22-5-2018
Location: U S of A
Member Is Offline
Mood: Happy about new glassware
|
|
Doh! I am such an idiot. The reaction tempatures most likely refer to the tempature of the catalyst. I think what is supposed to happen is that
ethanol is boiled with ammonia and mixed with air where it is then sent over a catalyst bed.
Also after further reading the paper stated (on page 97) that the best catalyst for making acetonitrile from ethanol and ammonia is Cobalt oxide
supported by alumina.
[Edited on 2/1/2019 by Jackson]
|
|
ninhydric1
Hazard to Others
Posts: 345
Registered: 21-4-2017
Location: Western US
Member Is Offline
Mood: Bleached
|
|
Probably easier to go through the standard NH4CH3COO -> acetamide -> acetonitrile method.
The philosophy of one century is the common sense of the next.
|
|