placid - 4-10-2017 at 19:09
I am looking for an optimized OTC way to convert Ammonium Sulphate to Ammonium Acetate. I cannot get Ammonia OTC, only Ammonium Sulphate.
What is the best route?
Many thanks
Sigmatropic - 4-10-2017 at 21:53
Get a decent amount of calcium or barium acetate. These salts forms practically insoluble sulfate salts and thus allow for a double displacement
reaction.
Barium carbonate is available from pottery suppliers and can be converted into the acetate with vinegar. Soluble barium compounds are poisonous.
Calcium acetate may be had by converting calcium chloride, available as air dehumidifier, into the hydroxide (with NaOH drain cleaner) or the
carbonate (with sodium carbonate) and then treating these insoluble solids with vinegar.
Edit:
Thinking about it you may as well mix sodium hydroxide or carbonate with ammonium sulfate (perhaps heating is required) and dissolve the off gasses in
vinegar.
[Edited on 5-10-2017 by Sigmatropic]
theAngryLittleBunny - 5-10-2017 at 05:21
If you want solid ammonium acetate, you need to do it another way, you won't get that by boiling an aqueous solution, becazäuse above 90°C, ammonium
acetare decomposes to acetamide and water. You could make ammonia by mixing and ammonium salt with an alkali hydroxide. Then you might be able to
neutralize an acetic acid solution in ether or another unreactive organic solvent with the ammonia gas.
placid - 5-10-2017 at 09:55
Ok, if I could get 9% Ammonia and GAA, would it be feasible to produce solid ammonium acetate?
Melgar - 5-10-2017 at 10:30
Ammonium sulfate will decompose into ammonia gas and ammonium bisulfate if you heat it (200C or so should do it). You can run the gas into an acetic
acid solution, if you make sure to use a suckback trap. Urea also works for doing this, and forms ammonia gas and solid cyanuric acid. (The cyanuric
acid decomposes to cyanic acid at much higher temperatures.) You can get ammonium acetate this way, because there isn't much water in the system, and
removing the water from an aqueous solution of ammonium acetate would probably be the hardest part.
You can also mix sodium bicarbonate with ammonium sulfate, with just a very small amount of water, then heat this mixture. This will give off a
mixture of CO2 and ammonia, and also allow you to extract more ammonia from the ammonium sulfate. Or use NaOH and ammonium sulfate, which would give
off water and ammonia.
You could also get calcium acetate by dissolving marble chips or eggshells or limestone in vinegar/acetic acid, drying it, then mixing solutions of
calcium acetate and ammonium sulfate, to get ammonium acetate. Of course, this would be in an aqueous solution, and I'm not sure that's what you
want.
Last thing: you're not following that guide on Rhodium for making methylamine via the Hoffman rearrangement, are you?