spirocycle - 26-3-2011 at 15:54
what are some good ways of drying solids wet with alcohol?
I always hear about water removal but not so much about alcohol removal.
are there some dessicant analogues?
are there any decent ways without using heat or vacuum?
Sedit - 26-3-2011 at 16:02
As long as its not air sensitive then use A fan.
Bot0nist - 26-3-2011 at 16:29
When using 95% ethanol (everclear ,goldengrain, ect.) I have found that simple open air evaporation takes place very rapidly. If you could be more
specific as to what it is your trying to dry then maybe we can help more.
spirocycle - 27-3-2011 at 05:38
It was just a general question, because there seems to be chemical methods of removing water but not much about other solvents.
are there any minerals that absorb any other solvents into their crystal structure?
Bot0nist - 27-3-2011 at 06:42
Maybe <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_sieves">this</a> is what your looking for.
Morgan - 27-3-2011 at 08:28
I was dabbling with trying to dry some platinum catalyst in methanol. The idea was to spray a mixture from a finger pump sprayer into the air igniting
spontaneously, but it didn't work. Maybe if I sprayed it down a tall pipe the particles would have more time to dry falling through the air. Basically
it was this experiment with the two agents combined.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3lS3TBuntw
Another thing/problem similar was a green fire ring thrower made with methanol, a tincture of boric acid, and powdered magnesium. Just a few teaspoons
would eject from an intubated bottle climbing straight up and the beautiful green torus would appear to brighten as it grew in diameter mixing more
thoroughly with air, at least 6 feet wide at the peak burn. But the magnesium would only impart a few glints of light in the ring of fire, being too
"wet" to burn brightly.
Perhaps there is something analogous to a hydrophobic agent that would repell or dry off alcohol the way some substances repel water.
[Edited on 27-3-2011 by Morgan]
smaerd - 27-3-2011 at 11:06
Sometimes what I do for compounds wet with water is put them on a piece of filter paper and put maybe 3 layers of paper towel underneath.
Occasionally I'll move the filter paper to a drier spot on the paper towel, but the air above helps as well to dry things out. Don't know if this will
help at all.
Jor - 27-3-2011 at 11:32
If the solids are inorganic, and insoluble in ether or DCM, wash them with those solvents one more time and dry in air.
spirocycle - 27-3-2011 at 19:28
i guess mol sieves 4A would be a good option, but how can you tell if a chemical will complex with the seives?
peach - 3-4-2011 at 09:36
Vacuum is by far the best bet if you need every bit of it gone in a reasonably short time without the possibility of it reacting with anything else.
Ethanol will start boiling at room temperature and below under the vacuum generated by a fridge compressor.