cryomancer - 11-11-2015 at 15:58
I am going to be synthesizing Fructone through a Acid Catalyzed Ketalization. In the experiment it calls for ethyl
acetoacetate, and ethylene glycol along with a small quantity of p-toluenesulfonic acid monohydrate as catalyst. Im doing this with the Science Club
here at my high school and so we have limited chemistry equipment (but yet we dropped 20 million on 2 new buildings 
. So my question is 2 part:
1. When Synthesizing the Fructone can i use raw nu-refined p-toluenesulfonic acid monohydrate from this
video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smdPlIrqIX0 even if it is wet
2. Do i have to use a Dean Stark Trap when making the Fructone or is there a way to do a make-shift Dean Stark. And
can i substitute for another Acid because its just being used as a Catylist because p-toluenesulfonic is expensive from the sources i have In this
Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBQqu28ly-k
If we get this reaction completed ill post results in this thread
Oscilllator - 11-11-2015 at 19:03
You can indeed rig up a makeshift dean-stark strap using nothing more than a claisen adapter and a still head. I made one for the purposes of making
p-toluenesulfonic acid and posted a picture of the apparatus here:
http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=26378&...
Just make sure the apparatus is tilted over a bit so the water accumulates in the claisen adapter, and it works fine.