Ubya
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solvent tin can lied about its composition, but it may contain phenol
I bought a tin of solvent that "had" as composition only toluene and methanol.
while trying to mix it with water to see how much was toluene and how much was methanol i saw something i didn't expect.
first of all, the smell, this stuff doesn't smell like toluene, or methanol, it smells like DAS (an italian synthetic modelling clay), then when i
poured it into a graduated cylinder i could see that this solution is not clear at all, it is milky white, and on addition of water i don't get 2
phases....
searching on the web i found a pdf with the real composition of this stuff (but still very generic).
it should contain "oil from carbonic bitumens" (literal translation, i have no idea of what it means), phenol and sodic soap.
now i'm interested in the phenol
whatever this "oil of carbonic bitumens" is (a heavy hydrocarbons mixture maybe), it is apolar, so if it wasn't for the soap, i could add a base and
extract the phenolate in aqueous solution.
so how do i get rid of this soap?
if i acidify the solution it should turn the soap back into the fatty acid and inorganic salt (that would precipitate out), but now if i try to basify
again to make the phenolate, i will also make the soap again...
do you know a way to get around this? i have 1L of this stuff
[Edited on 26-6-2020 by Ubya]
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feel free to correct my grammar, or any mistakes i make
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Ubya
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ok probably i got double lied, i tested this stuff with iron (III) chloride, and i got no color change....
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draculic acid69
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First step is distill out the methanol/toluene and then continue heating gently until the next best.p. is reached shall help u tell what is in it.
Then u might need to a/b any residual soaps/phenols depending on what you think u have
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Ubya
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Quote: Originally posted by draculic acid69  | | First step is distill out the methanol/toluene and then continue heating gently until the next best.p. is reached shall help u tell what is in it.
Then u might need to a/b any residual soaps/phenols depending on what you think u have |
today i'll try to distill some of it, but i'm pretty sure it doesn't contain any toluene or methanol
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draculic acid69
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That changes things then. I guess you just need to take a shot in the dark.
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DraconicAcid
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Distillation should give you an idea of what volatile components are in it, as well as getting rid of any surfactants that are present.
Please remember: "Filtrate" is not a verb.
Write up your lab reports the way your instructor wants them, not the way your ex-instructor wants them.
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