Can I dry dichloromethane with magnesium sulphate ? I've seen calcium hydride is used and molecular sieves but can't find anything on magnesium
sulphate JJay - 9-1-2018 at 16:31
I don't see why not, but calcium chloride works for DCM and is a stronger desiccant.
[Edited on 10-1-2018 by JJay]LD5050 - 9-1-2018 at 17:33
Ok cool I just didn't know if it would create some kind of reaction or dissolve in the dichloromethane. I usually used magnesium sulphate to dry it
but and never had any problems but after seeing that it wasn't used I didn't know if it was wise to use it or not.unionised - 10-1-2018 at 00:32
With most desiccants it's a good idea to distil the solvent after drying it, but distilling DCM will dry it very well anyway, so what's the point of
the drying agent?Radium212 - 10-1-2018 at 03:00
I've used it and it works fine.LD5050 - 10-1-2018 at 07:24
I did not know just distilling DCM would sufficiently dry it. I would think a drying agent still should be used. DraconicAcid - 10-1-2018 at 07:29
It depends on how dry you need it. For many purposes, just distilling will be enough. When I was doing research, we needed to reflux it over
phosphorus pentoxide before distilling.
But it's unlikely to react with most drying agents- it won't react with ordinary salts. You don't want to dry it with very strong bases, and
definitely not alkali metals.
