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-Naphthalene Usage-

The Volatile Chemist - 13-5-2014 at 08:17

Normally at a lack for stuff, I found two good sized containers of lighter fluid, or something like that (I'm at school now, so I can't check it's purpose). What caught my eye was that it stated it was naphthalene. It was a liquid, so I don't know what it all was, but are there any uses for this/any common reactions I could do with it? Wikipedia, my normal source for reactions in organic chemistry, let me down. Thanks!

PS: Some guesses on if and what solvent may be used in naphthalene lighter fluid.
EDIT:
It's actually Naphtha, sorry. Anything I can use THAT for? As a solvent?
Nathan

[Edited on 5-13-2014 by The Volatile Chemist]

[Edited on 5-13-2014 by The Volatile Chemist]

macckone - 13-5-2014 at 08:25

The first experiment that comes to mind is fractional distilling
and/or freezing to divide it into components and then determining
what each of those components is. For petroleum products this
is actually a high difficulty task.

deltaH - 13-5-2014 at 08:30

No, lighter fluid is not naphthalene (a solid used for moth balls), but usually a strongly hydrotreated light naphtha AFAIK... they are two different things!

Lighter fluid is supposed to be very paraffinic (alkane hydrocarbons).

Zyklon-A - 13-5-2014 at 08:56

Yeah, I have a bottle of Zippo^® lighter fluid. I have used it as a solvent for a few things before, but I mostly just use it to fill my Zippo^® lighters

Some general properties of Naphtha:
Fuel used in: Fire Eating, Fire Poi, Fire Hoop and Fire Buugeng.
Not recommended for: Fire Breathing
Flash Point: 44°C 2
Gravity: 0.75–0.785 g/cm3
Boiling Point: 160–220 °C (320–430 °F)
Vapor Pressure: Less than 5 torr (5 mm Hg).
Color: colorless (kerosene odor) or red-brown (aromatic odor) liquid
Solubility in Water: Insoluble

Naphtha is comprised of shorter chain hydrocarbons (c5-c7), can be aromatic (sweet smelling and carcinogenic), and can contain sulfuric compounds or other impurities. It most often consists of paraffins with colorants and a thiol for scent. It has the lowest boiling point of all the petrols, which gives it the highest vapor pressure. This means that it will produce flammable vapors whenever it’s not contained in a vapor-seal container, but those vapors will disperse quickly if well ventilated.

The Volatile Chemist - 13-5-2014 at 09:23

Quote: Originally posted by Zyklonb

Yeah, I have a bottle of Zippo^® lighter fluid. I have used it as a solvent for a few things before, but I mostly just use it to fill my Zippo^® lighters

Thanks! Very Helpful. Do you happen to know what Kinds of compounds are or arent soluble in it? For example, I suppose most ionic compounds are insoluble?
Thanks again!
Nathan.

chemrox - 13-5-2014 at 12:47

What an expensive solvent! It's a mixture of heavy and light hydrocarbons designed to burn when ignited but not spontaneously catch fire. Not very good for cleaning as it would leave residual oils behind. I fractionated some fuels a few years back to get in practice. I found a wide variety. I also found an almost continuous boiling range using a high reflux head and a longish Snyder column.

Zyklon-A - 13-5-2014 at 16:50

Quote: Originally posted by The Volatile Chemist

Thanks! Very Helpful. Do you happen to know what Kinds of compounds are or arent soluble in it? For example, I suppose most ionic compounds are insoluble?
Thanks again!
Nathan.

Your welcome.
No, I don't have any information of it's use as a solvent. Other than it's a nonpolar solvent so, yeah won't work well for ionic compounds.

alexleyenda - 13-5-2014 at 17:27

In theory, as a solvent, because it is made of a diversity of hydrocarbons, it is not suitable at all for polar compounds (such as ionic compounds). It could be suitable for non-polar compounds, However, the fact that it probably contains aromatic molecules which are much much more reactive than simple alkanes normally used as solvent (ex: hexane/cyclohexane) makes it quite not really practical. You have to make sure no undesired reactions that target aromatic molecules/alkenes/alkynes take place.

[Edited on 14-5-2014 by alexleyenda]

The Volatile Chemist - 14-5-2014 at 09:08

Will it work for napalm (Gas + Styrofoam)? I never have access to gas, so this might be nice...

gdflp - 14-5-2014 at 10:04

Source for gas, parents car + siphon

. Naptha might work for napalm, it has a high octane rating so it might burn slightly faster, but both gasoline and naptha are nonpolar solvents so I'm going to lean towards yes.

Manifest - 14-5-2014 at 10:06

I don't understand the fascination with napalm, it burns, that's it? Can someone explain?

gdflp - 14-5-2014 at 10:07

It is a good demonstration of a colloidal suspension to a beginner, the fact that it burns just keeps them interested.

alexleyenda - 14-5-2014 at 15:51

I guess the simple fact that it burns so easily, sticks and burns for quite a long time makes it unusual. And... Who doesn't like fire? :p Let's also not forget that it has quite a reputation.

Zyklon-A - 14-5-2014 at 15:58

Quote: Originally posted by The Volatile Chemist

Will it work for napalm (Gas + Styrofoam)? I never have access to gas, so this might be nice...

Do you live in a country that uses ethonal instead of gas (like somewhere in South America)? Or do your parents not let you use gas?

smaerd - 14-5-2014 at 16:47

I agree with ChemRox distilling naptha can be pretty interesting to freshen up on fractional distillation. Snyder column though, very nice. Granted there are more lively things to distill for the sake of distilling... However, I found in one of the lighter fluid brands that it had around 30% (anecdote from memory) of low boiling 'petroleum ether'. That stuff is a pretty nice non-polar solvent. Not exactly buried treasure but hmmm, what else can you do with a solvent?

subsecret - 14-5-2014 at 19:09

Perhaps you could crack the alkanes into things like ethylene...just pass the naptha vapors over hot fragments of porous porcelain or clay pot. Collect over water. I know that this works with liquid paraffin (the same as our American kerosene, if I'm not mistaken), and I assume that it would work with similar alkanes as well.

The Volatile Chemist - 15-5-2014 at 12:51

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

Quote: Originally posted by Zyklonb

Quote: Originally posted by The Volatile Chemist

Will it work for napalm (Gas + Styrofoam)? I never have access to gas, so this might be nice...

Do you live in a country that uses ethonal instead of gas (like somewhere in South America)? Or do your parents not let you use gas?

No, I live in the mid-west US (Ohio to be exact), but the only gas we usually have on hand is in the car or for the lawn mower, so I'd rather not take from them what they use all the time, and naphtha seemed even better, as it burns easier (I know, both are easy to ignite), I won't have to pay anything for it, and my family isn't using it (No-one smokes anymore).

In regards to "Why Napalm?", first off it smells great in the morning. Second, it burns compactly and hot, but isn't too likely to explode (actually it's explosiveness is just controllable). Teriderily, It sorta 'melts' as it burns, and burning, slowly flowing liquids look (and just are) cool. But I've never made it, so I wondered if Naphtha would work. I'll probably only make 100mL of it, but it'll be a nice end-of-freshman-year fun.

aga - 15-5-2014 at 13:10

C L A S S I F I E D
B O Z E Y E Y E S O N L Y

Napalm only sounds good/cool in English.

I visited Vietnam last December, and all the trees have grown back.

Agent White, thru Orange to Violet all got absorbed in the environment, and the Humans (as top of the food chain) concentrated the chemicals nicely.

Despite the multitude of deformities in newborn children, no side effects were seen.

EDIT: I'm English, so the Sarcasm may not immediately be apparent to North Americans.

[Edited on 15-5-2014 by aga]