Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Alcoholic Ammonia

puppycock - 18-11-2010 at 18:38

So I've seen a few preparations for different compounds that needs whatever is being reacted to be done in Alcoholic Ammonia, however in none of those is stated how to prepare it, will any alcohol work? does it have to be Aqueous or Dry Ammonia?

[Edited on 19-11-2010 by puppycock]

Copenhagen - 18-11-2010 at 18:48

Articles I've read refer to ethanolic ammonia and methanolic ammonia so I know those two can work. As far as IPA and other alcohols go I am not sure. Uncapped janitor strength ammonia enclosed in a sealed container surrounded by everclear might be a way to prepare it if basic diffusion principles hold. I'm not sure though.

[Edited on 19-11-2010 by Copenhagen]

Sedit - 18-11-2010 at 18:56

Generate NH3 thru a variety of means (ammonia nitrate + NaOH being my favorite because I can reuse the sodium nitrate formed) and pass it thru a drying agent such as NaOH followed by another pass over CaO if total dryness is needed and bubble this into ice cold alcohol.

I always fused me NaOH with a torch then busted it up and put it in a blender (not to fine you still want gas to pass thru)to ensure it would be effective as a drying agent.

puppycock - 18-11-2010 at 20:24

Quote: Originally posted by Sedit  
Generate NH3 thru a variety of means (ammonia nitrate + NaOH being my favorite because I can reuse the sodium nitrate formed) and pass it thru a drying agent such as NaOH followed by another pass over CaO if total dryness is needed and bubble this into ice cold alcohol.

I always fused me NaOH with a torch then busted it up and put it in a blender (not to fine you still want gas to pass thru)to ensure it would be effective as a drying agent.


I can get 27% ammonia from a chem supplier, would heating it yield gaseous ammonia? I would still have to dry it but I can get it very cheap, also if that works can I get all the NH3 out of the ammonium hydroxide solution by heating or will it be diluted in the water forever?

mewrox99 - 18-11-2010 at 20:27

27% Ammonia will work. But just use instant cold pack (AN) and drain cleaner. It's cheaper and as sedit mentioned useful Sodium Nitrate is also formed

puppycock - 18-11-2010 at 20:52

Ok, Sedit also mentioned that it should be bubbled into ice cold alcohol... is this because it has higher solubility in cold alcohol than in ambient temp. alcohol?

Sedit - 18-11-2010 at 21:18

Yes cold temperatures is to increase solubility of the formed NH3. If you can rach -33c then you will find its miscible with many solvents but thats another story altogether.


Dude make your ammonia gas then dry it.... I see that you have next to no chemistry information under the belt and thats ok with me other then the fact that your attempting to work with a vaporus caustic chemical with no idea what it can do. Honestly brother you give cooks the reputation they have earned. Dont argue with me about this either because A: I dont care and B: It takes one to know one.


Go learn and come back later because I can not help anymore sorry.

puppycock - 18-11-2010 at 21:33

I'm not into that kind of cooking, I actually tried googling around and UTFSE here, checked Ullman's and Krik Othmer Encyclopedias but found the same just mentioning "alcoholic ammonia". Thanks for the information should be enough.

I apologize if I come up as looking to be spoonfed.

passing through?

cyanureeves - 19-11-2010 at 07:19

sedit . what exactly is meant by passing through or especially passing over?as in passing through sodium hyroxide?i've read these terms in many chemistry books and glimpsed right over words assuming i'd understand such simple procedures but now i want to do it actually and am stummped.what about passing over?as in passing ammonia over hot charcoals for hcn?are these procedures only for gases?

blogfast25 - 19-11-2010 at 08:18

Quote: Originally posted by cyanureeves  
sedit . what exactly is meant by passing through or especially passing over?as in passing through sodium hyroxide?i've read these terms in many chemistry books and glimpsed right over words assuming i'd understand such simple procedures but now i want to do it actually and am stummped.what about passing over?as in passing ammonia over hot charcoals for hcn?are these procedures only for gases?


It means passing the moist gas over or through dry NaOH. You can use a typical 'wash bottle' setup and part fill the wash bottle with dry NaOH. The long tube of the wash bottle sticks into the mass of pieces or prills of NaOH and the gas then flows though the spaces between the NaOH. For that the the NaOH needs to be packed quite loosely.

Alternatively you can loosely pack some dry NaOH in a glass (or plastic) U-tube and lead the the moist gas over it from one end of the U-tube through the other.

Both the wash bottle and U-tube setups can be cobbled together safely from ‘stuff around the house’ for very little dough…

Another way of making some quite relatively dry ammonia is to mix garden grade ammonium sulphate ((NH4)2SO4) with household NaOH and heating gently: (NH4)2SO4 +2 NaOH  2 NH3 + Na2SO4 + 2 H2O. Then dry further if needed…


[Edited on 19-11-2010 by blogfast25]

Sedit - 19-11-2010 at 17:57

Take great care in making sure the pieces of NaOH or whatever do not clog the gas inlet. Place something around it such as cotton balls or something because when the NaOH gets wet it gets sticky and if your really unlucky it could get clogged. I had one of these blow off in my face one time giving me chemical burns on my hand. It was an odd feeling to hold my hands over a bowl of HCl to stop burning but now I suggest keeping a bottle of vinegar around since its cheep and could help in worst case situation.