Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Combining concentrated H2O2 with ethanol, methanol or IPA

RogueRose - 21-6-2019 at 10:02

I was trying to find if there is any reaction between H2O2 (of 20-70%) if mixed with pure methanol, ethanol or IPA. I didn't want to get a nasty surprise like when mixing with acetone, MEK, etc.

If two of these were mixed, could the boiling point of the two be changed, either higher or lower, for the solution? is it possible for either of them to require more/less heat for them to vaporize (phase change) than they would if heated separately?

I know the alcohol would boil higher b/c of the water being added from the H2O2, but it would still boil at a lower temp than the H2O2 I believe.?

[Edited on 6-21-2019 by RogueRose]

fusso - 21-6-2019 at 14:58

So you're asking whether H2O2 forms azeotropes with alcohols right?

unionised - 21-6-2019 at 16:27

Am I the only one who read this "Combining concentrated H2O2 with ethanol, methanol or IPA" and thought of this
https://darwinawards.com/

Mixing a marginally stable oxidant with a fuel and then heating it is... stupid.

OK technically, it's just fine if you have a remote handling setup and barricades, but if you had that sort of stuff, you probably wouldn't be asking the question.

Corrosive Joeseph - 21-6-2019 at 16:46

Oxidation of ethanol with H2O2 and Fe+2 ion is an known route to acetaldehyde from old Germany........ I don't know the first thing about acetone peroxide, but H2O2 + IPA.........? Well, your guess is as good as mine.


/CJ


[Edited on 22-6-2019 by Corrosive Joeseph]

RogueRose - 22-6-2019 at 07:09

Well I got many of the responses which I suspected, which is really scary considering I didn't find any warnings about mixing H2O2 with any of these on the first few pages of google. One page suggested mixing H2O2 and IPA to increase it's sterilizing properties. Though it's not as concentrated, I think it may not be an ideal thing to do.


There is another option, which after thinking about it more closely, I need to mix the two products but only for a VERY short period of time and they would be in a very fine mist/spray (think sucked into a dual venturi pump using compressed air) and their total time being mixed would be well under 1/2 a second.

Also I have a feeling the concentration of H202 will more likely range from 20-40%, not up to the 70% I thought possible.



DavidJR - 22-6-2019 at 07:11

Might it oxidize isopropanol to acetone?

XeonTheMGPony - 22-6-2019 at 09:02

any papers on the oxidation of ethanol to Acetaldehyde via hydrogen peroxide?

Corrosive Joeseph - 22-6-2019 at 14:38

I'm still translating it......... It's being a bit of a bitch, machine translation is never straight forward.
Rosenthaler; Archiv der Pharmazie (Weinheim, Germany); (1929); p. 600

Acetaldehyde and acetic acid were detected on analysis and from what I can tell, no yields are given. I'll post the completed translation soon in the acetaldehyde sticky in Organic Chemistry sub-forum.


/CJ

icelake - 23-6-2019 at 13:37

Quote: Originally posted by XeonTheMGPony  
any papers on the oxidation of ethanol to Acetaldehyde via hydrogen peroxide?


https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/1967/j1/j1967...

It's mostly kinetics.

Attachment: The oxidation of ethanol by hydrogen peroxide. Part I. Catalysis by ferric ion.pdf (577kB)
This file has been downloaded 376 times


Alkoholvergiftung - 23-6-2019 at 14:08

Isoprpylalkohol was used in the manufacture of H2O2. If you mix isopropylalcool with h202 and heat it to 70C with H202 it split into Aceton and H2O2 without H2O2 as catalyst you only get Aceton.(When you bubbel air throught the mix).