Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Going above temp on Haloform reaction Acetone and Bleach?

LD5050 - 11-3-2017 at 20:27

I was making chloroform by the haloform reaction with acetone and bleach and I accidentally went over the 30c temp like a dummy kinda way over.... When I performed this reaction before the temp didn't rise so quickly and I was just able to throw in the freezer after adding the acetone. This time I did the same thing and came back a few min later and the bottles were super hot. My question is what happens when I go over that temp thresh hold? Do I just get a lower yield or do I get side products?

j_sum1 - 11-3-2017 at 21:10

Both. Someone more knowledgable than me will be along to provide all the details. But in essence, chloroform reacts with NaOH; which is the byproduct of your bleach acetone reaction. This reaction is a lot slower at low temperatures.

Proceed as normal. But if your bottles became "hot", as you say, then it is likely that your yield is way down. See what you get and chalk this one up to experience.

PirateDocBrown - 12-3-2017 at 03:12

You will also evaporate off your product.

Start with your bleach ice cold, and you won't have this problem.

[Edited on 3/12/17 by PirateDocBrown]

LD5050 - 12-3-2017 at 06:04

Ya that what i did i put the bleach and the acetone in the freezer like every time before except this time it got really hot.

PirateDocBrown - 12-3-2017 at 18:56

Add it in portions, and cool down between.

XeonTheMGPony - 14-3-2017 at 11:48

I'd do it with the calcium Hypochlorite method, IE Pool shock and aceton.

I found it to be a very easy to control reaction with very good yield.



Chloroform 1.JPG - 1.4MB

Rhodanide - 16-3-2017 at 06:17

Quote: Originally posted by LD5050  
I was making chloroform by the haloform reaction with acetone and bleach and I accidentally went over the 30c temp like a dummy kinda way over.... When I performed this reaction before the temp didn't rise so quickly and I was just able to throw in the freezer after adding the acetone. This time I did the same thing and came back a few min later and the bottles were super hot. My question is what happens when I go over that temp thresh hold? Do I just get a lower yield or do I get side products?

Yes, it will boil the Chloroform off, quickly.
Actually, I have a video in which I do exactly that, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFUzmINeZ0U