Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Distilling Bismuth Trichloride

dann2 - 2-11-2010 at 12:35

Hello,

I have Bismuth Trichloride 2H20 and with to get to the anhydrous state. Simply drying does not work.
I am informed the Anhydrous state can be reached by distilling the Bismuth Trichloride.
How do you distill Bismuth Trichloride Dihydrate . I believe it boils at approx. 447C.(Kirk Othmer)
Do I need a Dean Spark trap? I cannot imagine glass standing up to those temperatures.
If I use SOCl2, I believe this will dehydrate the Hydrate but I have no SOCl2.
Could I dissolve the Bismuth Trichloride Dihydrate in Ethanol and then use a standard procedure to remove the water from the Ethanol (solution) by using CaO or some dehydrating agent that is regularly used to dry Ethanol.
A solution of BiCl3 in Ethanol is what I am ultimately after so the Ethanol is not a problem

Cheers,
Dann2

not_important - 2-11-2010 at 15:05

With that much water I believe you have to add concentrated (~35%) hydrochloric acid to tie up the water. Normal dehydrating procedures will not work well, especially bases such as CaO,; you do need agents such as SOCl2, SiCl4, and so on, if you want to pull the water off without distillation, else it's strong HCl in excess (the water comes off as the HCl azeotrope).

entropy51 - 2-11-2010 at 17:08

I think that heating in a stream of dry HCl would remove the water of hydration.