TheNerdyFarmer - 10-12-2016 at 19:39
I was watching a video about making potassium metal via magnesium reduction method. In the video they used t butanol and added it to the KOH and Mg
submerged in lamp oil. I was wondering why they did that. Wouldn't it work without it? And if not what would be a good replacement (if any) for the
t-butanol. (i don't have any)
[Edited on 11-12-2016 by TheNerdyFarmer]
[Edited on 11-12-2016 by TheNerdyFarmer]
[Edited on 11-12-2016 by TheNerdyFarmer]
elementcollector1 - 10-12-2016 at 20:15
The video's well-known, see the potassium thread in Chemistry in General. The tert-butanol acts as a catalyst, allowing magnesium to reduce potassium
tert-butoxide to potassium metal before being hydrolyzed back to tert-butanol. Only tertiary alcohols seem to work for this reaction.
TheNerdyFarmer - 10-12-2016 at 20:17
Ok thanks.
NeonPulse - 10-12-2016 at 21:22
that's probably my video. I used the lamp oil and T-Butanol. Nurdrages video uses tert amyl alcohol and tetralin. t-pentanol is a good substitute but
harder to find/ more expensive due to people actually drinking it. the T-butanol was relatively easy to find and not too budget busting. the tertiary
alcohols act as the catalyst driving the reaction forward and it must be a tertiary alcohol. primary and secondary alcohols won't work.
it took me about a dozen attempts to get a decent amount of K metal at all. as mentioned previously the "Make potassium metal" thread is a goldmine of
info on the subject.
TheNerdyFarmer - 11-12-2016 at 13:04
Ok thanks you. Can you scale up the reaction while still calling it safe or is it better to do it in small amounts. BTW: Good job on the video. 