I'm in the process of recrystallizing some caffeine in warm acetone and it is giving off a very strong smell nearly identical to that of a nice
fireplace. That sort of woody/smoky odor. It doesn't smell bad. Ideas?
1. No, there is no fire anywhere in my house.
2. No, the acetone is not on fire.
3. I am not the only one smelling this.
The caffeine started in supplement pills around a year ago. I first extracted the crude product when I was first getting into home chemistry (it
wasn't anything special). Pumukli - 28-11-2019 at 09:18
Have you tried heating and "sampling" your acetone alone, without caffeine?G-Coupled - 28-11-2019 at 09:34
Try evaporating a little unused Acetone on some clean glass and check for residue and/or un-Acetone like odors?
Where's the Acetone from?
[Edited on 28-11-2019 by G-Coupled]njl - 28-11-2019 at 10:02
The acetone is from a fresh jug of klean strip acetone. Just did a little test with some straight from the jug, but no smokey smells. Just the typical
pungent smell. I took the solution off of my hotplate to cool, the smell has since faded as the glass approached room temp. All of the caffeine is
back out of solution. I am going to dry some crystals in the oven on low and see what happens.G-Coupled - 28-11-2019 at 10:36
Good luck - Kleen Strip brand is considered pretty clean and dry AFAIK. TheMrbunGee - 28-11-2019 at 11:22
Just had to check: are You sure the caffeine smell mixed with the smell of acetone is what produces the sensations of yours? draculic acid69 - 28-11-2019 at 16:21
I tried extracting some caffeine from pills once.only thing is it stunk of piss.
And the laptop bag I had it in stunk of piss.i don't think it was clean caffeine in the pills.does pure caffeine smell strongly or is it odourles?njl - 28-11-2019 at 18:48
Just had to check: are You sure the caffeine smell mixed with the smell of acetone is what produces the sensations of yours?
Well I suppose you're never absolutely sure if anything, but yes i triple checked. At first I thought my house was burning down
Tsjerk - 28-11-2019 at 23:15
Pure caffeine does smell a bit, it smells a bit bitter, but only slightly, you really have to stick your nose in the bottle. TheMrbunGee - 29-11-2019 at 04:40
I tried extracting some caffeine from pills once.only thing is it stunk of piss.
And the laptop bag I had it in stunk of piss.i don't think it was clean caffeine in the pills.does pure caffeine smell strongly or is it odourles?
I have handled only few grams of caffeine extracted from teas, I never purified it, but it just had a little of pale green color, so it was reasonably
pure, still not white pure. I can smell it very easily, especially if in methanol solution or warm. and the smell is what I imagine, in combination of
acetone might give an strange or even burning smell.
Also, technical grade acetone, at least where I live - often comes impure. I mean like one brand, in the same shop at 2 different times once I got
completely pure solvent, that does not leave a mark on evaporating and the 2nd time I got this pale yellow liquid, that really did smell of urine..
Reasons like these in any combination might give the effect You are getting.
Or maybe Your hotplate is the source of smell?G-Coupled - 29-11-2019 at 05:50
