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Klean Strip Acetone

EssOiEx - 15-4-2017 at 11:19

MSDS says anhydrous, and 100%. Anyone have any differing opinions?

PirateDocBrown - 15-4-2017 at 12:30

It's gonna absorb water from the air, and I'm quite sure the manufacturing process is not done in a dry environment. But a simple strip distill done with a drying tube and suitable drying agents (B2O3 is preferred, but MgSO4 would work) can make it quite pure indeed, near reagent grade.

[Edited on 4/15/17 by PirateDocBrown]

[Edited on 4/15/17 by PirateDocBrown]

Melgar - 16-4-2017 at 22:53

If you want to minimize distillation, you can just store it over silica gel. A few of those little "do not eat" packets torn open and added to your acetone bottle should do the trick.

veganalchemist - 17-4-2017 at 02:47

Calcium sulfate is the best drying agent for acetone.

Magnesium sulfate is inefficient and calcium chloride forms an addition compound.

Silica gel causes an aldol condensation reaction and increases water content.

Invest in a copy of "Purification of laboratory chemicals" by Armarego and Chai.

I have a 3rd and 6th edition at home and a 7th edition at work.

I'm sure a free pdf copy exists online but I'm old school and prefer a propper copy.

MrHomeScientist - 17-4-2017 at 10:52

When an OTC product says it's "100% pure" that really means that all they put in the bottle is that one ingredient. Nothing can ever be 100% pure. The acetone is likely upwards of 95% pure, but undoubtedly it has absorbed some water from the air and may have some contaminants from whatever process it was obtained by. So for best purity, definitely dry and distill it before use. If you're just using it to clean glassware, it's fine as-is.

I didn't know CaCl<sub>2</sub> reacted with acetone. I'm actually drying some right now using it, and will distill it tonight. I guess the reaction will reduce my yield, but I'll keep that in mind for the future. I found a copy of the book you mentioned, thanks for the tip.

PirateDocBrown - 17-4-2017 at 11:42

Most acetone is made from cumene, which is then hydrolyzed into both acetone and phenol, both useful and valuable products. Not much cumene or phenol is likely to separate with acetone. But there can always be any number of other contaminants.

Melgar - 17-4-2017 at 17:19

Quote: Originally posted by MrHomeScientist

I didn't know CaCl<sub>2</sub> reacted with acetone. I'm actually drying some right now using it, and will distill it tonight. I guess the reaction will reduce my yield, but I'll keep that in mind for the future. I found a copy of the book you mentioned, thanks for the tip.

CaCl2 often absorbs CO2 from the air to form CaCO3 and HCl. Try leaving some aluminum foil in a CaCl2 water solution overnight, uncovered. It'll gradually be eaten away.

Amos - 18-4-2017 at 06:03

Quote: Originally posted by Melgar

Quote: Originally posted by MrHomeScientist

CaCl2 often absorbs CO2 from the air to form CaCO3 and HCl. Try leaving some aluminum foil in a CaCl2 water solution overnight, uncovered. It'll gradually be eaten away.

Sorry, what? Any sort of chloride ion will do this to wet aluminium, but it doesn't mean hydrochloric acid is being generated. Where'd you even get that reaction?

JJay - 19-4-2017 at 10:47

I've been thinking about doing some tests on Klean Strip acetone. I could check to see if it contains primary or secondary alcohols (including phenol I think) with a drop of Jones reagent. I think if it contains water then it would turn anhydrous copper sulfate blue... I personally am not that concerned about water, but alcohols would make it an ineffective solvent for Jones oxidations.

JJay - 19-4-2017 at 21:36

So I picked up a fresh jug of Klean Strip acetone. I plan to conduct a few tests... I don't have any anhydrous copper sulfate prepared although I do have Jones reagent... anyone want to do a test for water?

Brom - 20-4-2017 at 12:32

I have some Klean strip acetone and some anhydrous copper sulfate. After adding a bit of the CuSO4 to the acetone i could not detect any colour change. If there is any water present it must be a very small amount.

JJay - 20-4-2017 at 15:21

About 20 minutes ago, I added a drop of 1M Jones reagent to 10 mL of Klean Strip acetone, straight out of a freshly opened bottle. The acetone turned orange and slowly decolorized, and I see a dark precipitate... these results do not bode well for the purity of Klean Strip acetone. It's probably a good idea to purify it by refluxing with some Jones reagent followed by distillation prior to using it as a solvent for Jones oxidation. I actually didn't know that it contained oxidizable hydroxyls previously but I am not surprised... the yields of some oxidations that I've attempted recently in it have been fairly low. It's certainly not reagent grade, but it is cheap....