Distillation, water

Pure water for use in the laboratory can be obtained from tap water (hard or soft) by distillation if water of great purity is required, distillation must be carried out in special apparatus, usually made of quartz, not glass or metal precautions must be taken to avoid any spray getting into the distillate. Water which is sufficiently pure for most laboratory purposes can, however, be obtained by passing tap water through cation-exchangers and anion-exchangers as described above, when the water is deionised . 

Experiment 4. Choice of Solvent and Complete Recrystallisation. Students should be supplied with distilled water and with the more common organic solvents, and also with the compounds mentioned below. Taking each compound in turn they should decide, by the methods described in (i) above, which of these six solvents is the best for recrystallisation. They should then recrystallise about 5 g. of at least two of the compounds, dry the product, and whenever possible take its melting-point. 

Chromatographic Separation of a Mixture of o- and p-Nitroaniline. Prepare a glass tube A (Fig. 24) in which the wider portion has a diameter of 3 cm. and a length of ca. 30 cm. the narrow portion at the base has a diameter of 5-7 mm. Wash the tube thoroughly (if necessary, with chromic acid, followed by distilled water and ethanol) and then dry. Insert a small plug of cotton-wool P as shown just within the narrow neck of the tube it is essential that this plug does not project into the wider portion of the tube. Clamp the tube in a vertical position. 

If an alternative mixed solvent is required, shake thoroughly a mixture of 20 ml. of distilled water and 40 ml. of the -butanol, then... 

Conversion of the salt of a weak base into the free base. Prepare a column of a strong base anion resin (such as Amberlite IRA-40o(OH) ) washed with distilled water as above. Drain off most of the water and then allow 100 ml. of A//2.Na.2C03 solution to pass through the column at 5 ml. per minute. Again wash the column with 200 ml. of distilled water. Dissolve 0-05 g. of aniline hydrochloride in 100 ml. of distilled water and pass the solution down the column. The effluent contains aniline in solution and free from all other ions. 

Hydrolysis of Potassium Ethyl Sulphate. Dissolve about i g. of the crystals in about 4 ml. of cold distilled water, and divide the solution into two portions, a) To one portion, add barium chloride solution. If pure potassium ethyl sulphate were used, no precipitate should now form, as barium ethyl sulphate is soluble in water. Actually however, almost all samples of potassium ethyl sulphate contain traces of potassium hydrogen sulphate formed by slight hydrolysis of the ethyl compound during the evaporation of its solution, and barium chloride almost invariably gives a faint precipitate of barium sulphate. b) To the second portion, add 2-3 drops of concentrated hydrochloric acid, and boil the mixture gently for about one minute. Cool, add distilled water if necessary until the solution has its former volume, and then add barium chloride as before. A markedly heavier precipitate of barium sulphate separates. The hydrolysis of the potassium ethyl sulphate is hastened considerably by the presence of the free acid Caustic alkalis have a similar, but not quite so rapid an effect. 

Add 5 g. of potassium hydrogen tartrate and 5 g. of antimony trioxide (each being finely powdered) to 30 ml. of water contained in a small flask, and boil the mixture under a reflux water-condenser for 15 minutes. Then filter hot, using a Buchner funnel and flask which have been preheated by the filtration of some boiling distilled water. Pour the clear filtrate into a beaker and allow to cool. Potassium antimonyl tartrate separates as colourless crystals. Filter, drain and dry. Yield, 5 g. The product can be recrystallised from hot water, but this is usually not necessary. 

Dissolve 5 g. of aniline hydrochloride in 120 ml. of hot water contained in a 200 ml. conical flask and then add 4 g. of potassium cyanate. Heat the solution on a water-bath for 30 minutes, adding about 1-2 g. of animal charcoal towards the end of the heating if a slight turbidity has developed. Now bring the solution quickly to the boil over a gauze, and filter it at the pump, using a Buchner funnel and flask which have been preheated by the filtration of some boiling distilled water. The clear... 

Pour the mixture into a 500 ml. flask fitted with a steam-distillation head, and with a steam-inlet tube reaching almost to the bottom of the flask. First distil off the benzene in steam. Then place the flask in an oil-bath heated to 165-170 ", and continue the steam-distillation (2-3 hours). The /)-bromobiphenyl passes over and forms orange crystals in the water-condenser therefore run the water out of the condenser for a short while from time to time to melt the orange deposit and allow it to run into the receiver containing the distilled water. 

To obtain the free acid, dissolve the potassium salt in 50 ml. of cold water, filter the solution if a small undissolved residue remains, and then boil the clear solution gently whilst dilute sulphuric acid is added until the separation of the acid is complete. Cool the solution and filter off the pale orange-coloured crystals of the benzilic acid wash the crystals on the filter with some hot distilled water, drain well, and then dry in a desiccator. Yield of crude acid, 4 g. Recrystallise from benzene (about 50 ml.) to which a small quantity of animal charcoal has been added, filtering the boiling solution through a preheated funnel fitted w ith a fluted filter-paper, as the benzilic acid readily crystallises as the solution cools alternatively, recrystallise from much hot water. The benzilic acid is obtained as colourless crystals, m.p. 150°. 

Reagent A. Dissolve 0 5 g. of the powdered dinitropheny I hydrazine in a mixture of 80 ml. of concentrated hydrochloric acid and 100 ml. of distilled water by gently heating the mixture on a water-bath. Cool the solution and add 120 ml. of water. If necessary, filter the pale yellow solution. 

Preparation of REAOENTS.t It is essential for this preparation that the zinc powder should be in an active condition. For this purpose, it is usually sufficient if a sample of ordinary technical zinc powder is vigorously shaken in a flask with pure ether, and then filtered off at the pump, washed once with ether, quickly drained and without delay transferred to a vacuum desiccator. If, however, an impure sample of zinc dust fails to respond to this treatment, it should be vigorously stirred in a beaker with 5% aqueous sodium hydroxide solution until an effervescence of hydrogen occurs, and then filtered at the pump, washed thoroughly with distilled water, and then rapidly with ethanol and ether, and dried as before in a vacuum desiccator. The ethyl bromoacetate (b.p. 159 ) and the benzaldehyde (b.p. 179 ) should be dried and distilled before use. 

Sodium Fusion on Semi mlcro Scale. The Lassaigne test can be readily carried out with as little as 0 01 g. of material, using sodium pellets about 2 mm. in diameter in a tube about 3 x. After fusion, the red-hot tube is plunged into distilled water in a small porcelain crucible or in a boiling tube. The mixture is then heated, filtered and tested as already described. 

Take two test-tubes A and B in A place about 5 ml. of neutralised tartaric acid solution and in B place 5 ml. of distilled water. To each solution add 3-4 drops of ferric chloride solution. Place a piece of white paper under the tubes, look down their length and note that A is definitely yellow compared with the control tube B. This yellow colour is given by a-hydroxy-carboxylic-acids, lactic acid, tartaric acid, citric acid. 

Weigh out accurately about 2-5 g. of pure powdered succinic acid, transfer to a 100 ml. graduated flask, dissolve in distilled water, make the solution up to the graduation mark and mix well. Now, by means of a pipette, transfer 25 ml. of the solution to a 150 ml. conical flask, add a drop of phenolphthalein solution and titrate with A/ 2 NaOH or KOH solution to obtain consistent results. 

Note, (i) In view of the large volume of. "l/.NaOH solution required in the above titrations, the contents of the flask A after hydrolysis niay alternatively be washed carefully into a 100 ml. graduated flask, and the solution made up to the mark and well mixed. 25 ml. of the-solution are then withdrawn with a pipette, and titrated with the A/.NaOH solution. The 100 ml. flask is then washed out repeatedly with distilled water, and used similarly for the contents of the flask B. 

Weigh out approximately 1 5 g. of powdered pentacetylglucose (p. 141) in the flask A, and then add 25 ml. of M H2S04 solution to each of the flasks A and B, together with a fragment of porcelain. Boil under reflux gently for 30 minutes, then wash each condenser down as before with 10 ml. of distilled water, cool, and titrate the solutions with A/.NaOH solution. 

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