Yorty2040
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Distilling methyl nitrate
I know it's an extremely dangerous procedure, but I would like to know more about it, and see if anyone's done it.
If I understand correctly, the formation of methyl nitrate in aqueous nitric acid is an equilibrium reaction, and distilling off the methyl nitrate as
it forms can force the reaction to completion via Le Chatelier's principle even if the nitric acid concentration is low and no dehydrating agent is
present.
Of course, I wouldn't do it at standard pressure, as the boiling point of MeNO3 would be higher than the runaway temperature, but I can't find the
data for the b.p at decreasing pressure for the various components. What pressure and temperature point would be ideal for boiling off the MeNO3 (and
condensing it in a receiving flask cooled with a dry ice/acetone bath)?
I suppose purging the setup with nitrogen before reducing the pressure would be another helpful safety measure, but I'm not sure if it would be worth
the effort, since the vapor concentration in ppm air would be the controlling factor in propagating a fire or explosion.
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dettoo456
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A nomograph (https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/US/en/support/calculators-and-a...) can give you an idea of BP’s at different vacuum pressures.
As for actual synth, apparently alkyl nitrates can be decanted according to this orgsyn article (http://www.orgsyn.org/Content/pdfs/procedures/CV2P0412.pdf) and the patent I linked below, but they use mixed acid for the nitration, not WFNA or
azeotopic HNO3.
I’d definitely advise against distilling energetics, especially close-to-OB%-balanced ones, and Methyl Nitrate is a brisant one at that. The ppm/O2
concentration might not matter in this case, a bit of metal somewhere in the apparatus or outside of the vessel could be all it needs to rapidly
decomp.
Is there any reason you don’t want to use a dehydrating component in the rxn? If you can’t get H2SO4, polyphosphoric acid is comparable in
dehydrating strength and only requires heating phosphoric acid up to like 400C for a while and cooling the resulting sludge down for later use -
Magpie wrote a good little thread on it. It’s totally recyclable too.
[Edited on 6-4-2024 by dettoo456]
Attachment: Alkyl Nitrate Prep.pdf (660kB)
This file has been downloaded 42 times
[Edited on 6-4-2024 by dettoo456]
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DennyDevHE77
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As far as I know it is not distilled in the usual sense, compressed air is bubbled through it, and coupled with its strong volatility it is distilled.
The question wasn't asked of me, but if they had asked me, I would have said that buying large quantities of H2SO4 can be suspicious, while nitric
acid is completely legal. Well that's exactly my case. Following from that, and considering that for me for example 70-75% nitric acid is completely
legal and available in large quantities, then I could make large quantities of explosives if possible. Methyl nitrate is one such substance. But I
have the desire to blow down a tree by blowing up a few liters of nitroether, for example. Some people make do with ammonium nitrate explosives, and
some people basically make a few grams of each.
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Yorty2040
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It's way cheaper and easier to make aqueous nitric acid by distilling NaHSO4:H2O + KNO3 or using a Birkland-Eyde reactor than by constantly buying
H2SO4 or reconcentrating it by boiling it down.
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