Quote: Originally posted by Sedit |
I have a question. I got a paint thinner that contains acetone,DCM,MeOH,Toluene and KOH.
I can not seem to seperate the layers very well using water and distillation bumps so bad even with boiling chips. Any suggestions on whats going on
here. Im shocked DCM and KOH can even be in the same solution since my instincts tell me it would be a bad idea but I guess it can.
I only want the toluene and DCM so perhaps steaming it would be my best option I guess. Right now its my cheepest over the counter source of Toluene.
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Well geez, that sounds like an awful mix... like it could peel the paint right off your walls!....oh...
Hmm, acetone shouldn't be stable with KOH. It should undergo aldol condensation to mixed products (= black tar).
The acetone (if that's what it is) and MeOH are probably keeping everything miscible. I wonder if a sufficient quantity of H2O would break it into a
"salted out" KOH+H2O layer, also containing most of the MeOH and acetone, with a DCM+toluene layer adjecent (above or below, depending on the ratio of
the two, and how "salty" the water gets). If the densities are too similar, they won't seperate very well, and surfactants will prevent coalescence.
I offer no guarantees...
Other than that, KOH could at least be neutralized with, say, H2SO4, precipitating insoluble K2SO4, without adding much water to the mix (HCl would
work, forming KCl, but commercial HCl acid comes with a lot of water). You could then try distilling it again: maybe removing the salt will prevent
it from bumping so much.
MeOH could be absorbed in CaCl2. This also works for H2O and EtOH. I don't know about acetone. If there's a lot of water present already that you
didn't mention, this might not be as practical.
Tim |