Extraction stopcock

Some of the more obvious sources of contamination of solvents arise from storage in metal drums and plastic containers, and from contact with grease and screw caps. Many solvents contain water. Others have traces of acidic materials such as hydrochloric acid in chloroform. In both cases this leads to corrosion of the drum and contamination of the solvent by traces of metal ions, especially Fe. Grease, for example on stopcocks of separating funnels and other apparatus, e.g. greased ground joints, is also likely to contaminate solvents during extractions and chemical manipulation. 

Fig. 3.1.2 The apparatus used in 1956 for the methanol extraction of Cypridina luciferin. The dried Cypridina (500 g) is extracted at a temperature lower than 40°C with refluxing methanol under reduced pressure for two days. The atmosphere inside the apparatus is completely replaced with hydrogen gas that was purified by its passing through a quartz tube containing red-heated copper fragments. The temperature of the mantle heater is adjusted, the system evacuated, and then all stopcocks are closed. The extraction with refluxing methanol continues for many hours without any further adjustment. From the author s 1957 notebook.

After the Teflon stopcock is closed, the reaction vessel is transferred to a water bath maintained at 60°. The lower end of the vessel should be immersed to within about 1 in. below the fritted-glass retainer. As refluxing of the bromine proceeds, a liquid layer should accumulate above the fritted-glass retainer. If this does not happen, some bromine should be poured through the bypass arm so that a liquid layer ca. 1 in. thick is maintained on the frit. It is essential that liquid bromine contact the tribromide in order to attain efficient conversion to tetrabromide. As the reaction proceeds, the product, dissolved in liquid bromine, extracts into the lower vessel and deposits there as fine black crystals. 

Following this procedure, the funnel is positioned in a padded ring in a ring stand and left undisturbed for a period of time to allow the two immiscible layers to once again separate. The purpose of the specific design of the separatory funnel is mostly to provide for easy separation of the two immiscible liquid layers after the extraction takes place. All one needs to do is remove the stopper, open the stopcock, allow the bottom layer to drain, and then close the stopcock when the interface between the two layers disappears from sight in the stopcock. The denser of the two liquids is the bottom layer and will be drained through the stopcock first. The entire process may need to be repeated several times, since the... 

No. Besides the convenient use of the separatory funnel for the actual extraction, they are also designed for easy separation of two immiscible liquids after the extraction through the stopcock. It would not be easy to separate a liquid from a solid through the stopcock. 

PdCf-catalysed methoxycarbonylation of organic tellurides with carbon monoxide (typical procedure)In a two-necked, 50 mL, round-bottomed flask with a septum inlet and a three-way stopcock were placed PdCl2 (0.017 g, 0.1 mmol), copper(ll) chloride (0.270 g, 2.0 mmol) and a telluride (1.0 mmol). The system was then flushed with CO from a CO balloon connected to the flask at 25°C, to which dry methanol (10 mL) and triethylamine (0.303 g, 3.0 mmol) were added by a syringe. After the mixture was stirred for 75 h at 25°C, during which time the green colour turned to dark brown, the brown solid was filtered off The filtrate was poured into NH4CI aqueous solution and extracted with diethyl... 

A mixture of 20 g (0.1 mol) of aluminum isopropoxide, 0.1 mol of an aldehyde or a ketone and 100 ml of dry isopropyl alcohol is placed in a 250 ml flask surmounted by an efficient column fitted with a column head providing for variable reflux. The mixture is heated in an oil bath or by a heating mantle until the by-product of the reaction - acetone - starts distilling. The reflux ratio is adjusted so that the temperature in the column head is kept at about 55° (b.p. of acetone) and acetone only is collected while the rest of the condensate, mainly isopropyl cohol (b.p. 82°), flows down to the reaction flask. When no more acetone is noticeable in the condensate based on the test for acetone by 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine the reflux regulating stopcock is opened and most of the isopropyl alcohol is distilled off through the column. The residue in the distilling flask is cooled, treated with 200 ml of 7% hydrochloric acid and extracted with benzene the benzene extract is washed with water, dried and either distilled if the product of the reduction is volatile or evaporated in vacuo in the case of non-volatile or solid products. Yields of the alcohols are 80-90%. 

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