Karl-Fischer

In the period 1910-1930 several distinguished chemists — Emil Fischer, Karl Freudenberg and Paul Karrer — made substantial contributions to early ideas on the gallotannins . But progress was severely hampered by the slow realisation that all the plant extracts consisted of mixtures of closely related metabolites and other phenols whose presence made separation and purification of the desired materials extremely difficult (97). Many of these problems have been relieved in recent years by application of various forms of chromatography and by concomitant use of spectroscopic methods for identification. 

Karl Fischer reagent A mixture ofU and SO2 dissolved in pyridine - MeOH used as a titrant for water with which HI is liberated and the pH determined with a meter. 

Water (content) NFT 60-154 ISO/DIS 6296 ASTM D 1744 Karl Fischer Method (electrometric, alter addition of KF reagent)... 

A method of estimating small amounts of water in organic liquids (and also in some inorganic salts) is that of Karl Fischer. The substance is titrated with a mixture of iodine, sulphur dioxide and pyridine dissolved in methyl alcohol. The essential reaction is ... 

Another important example of a redox titration for inorganic analytes, which is important in industrial labs, is the determination of water in nonaqueous solvents. The titrant for this analysis is known as the Karl Fischer reagent and consists of a mixture of iodine, sulfur dioxide, pyridine, and methanol. The concentration of pyridine is sufficiently large so that b and SO2 are complexed with the pyridine (py) as py b and py SO2. When added to a sample containing water, b is reduced to U, and SO2 is oxidized to SO3. 

Methanol is included to prevent the further reaction of py SO3 with water. The titration s end point is signaled when the solution changes from the yellow color of the products to the brown color of the Karl Fischer reagent. 

Kaibutilate [4849-32-5] Kail-Fischer method Karl Fischer titration Karl Fischer titrations Karmex... 

Anhydrous ammonia is normally analy2ed for moisture, oil, and residue. The ammonia is first evaporated from the sample and the residue tested (86). In most instances, the amount of oil and sediment ia the samples are insignificant and the entire residue may be assumed to be water. For more accurate moisture determinations, the ammonia can be dissociated into nitrogen and hydrogen and the dewpoint of the dissociated gas obtained. This procedure works well where the concentration of water is in the ppm range. Where the amount of water is in the range of a few hundredths of a percent, acetic acid and methanol can be added to the residue and a Karl Fischer titration performed to an electrometricaHy detected end point (89—92). 

Chemical tests for particular types of impurities, e.g. for peroxides in aliphatic ethers (with acidified KI), or for water in solvents (quantitatively by the Karl Fischer method, see Fieser and Fieser, Reagents for Organic Synthesis J. Wiley Sons, NY, Vol 1 pp. 353, 528, 1967, Library of Congress Catalog Card No 66-27894). 

For efficiency of desiccants in drying acetone see Burfield and Smithers [7 Org Chem 43 3966 1978]. The water content of acetone can be determined by a modified Karl Fischer titration [Koupparis and Malmstadt A/w/ Chem 54 1914 1982]. 

Tests for purity include the Karl Fischer titration for water this can be applied directly. Acetic acid and methylamine can be detected polarographically. 

A colourless, odourless, neutral liquid at room temperature with a high dielectric constant. The amount of water present can be determined directly by Karl Fischer titration GLC and NMR have been used to detect unreacted propionic acid. Commercial material of high quality is available, probably from the condensation of anhydrous methylamine with 50% excess of propionic acid. Rapid heating to 120-140° with stirring favours the reaction by removing water either directly or as the ternary xylene azeotrope. The quality of the distillate improves during the distn. 

Small amounts of pyridine have been purified by vapour-phase chromatography, using a 180-cm column of polyethyleneglycol-4(X) (Shell 5%) on Embacel (May and Baker) at 100°, with argon as carrier gas. The Karl Fischer titration can be used for determining water content. A colour test for pyrrole as a contaminant is described by Biddiscombe et al. [J Ghent Soc 1957 1 954]. 

Another important reaction (between H2O, I2 and SO2) forms the basis of the quantitative determination of water when present in small amounts. The reaction, originally investigated by R. Bunsen in 1835, was introduced in 1935 as an analytical reagent by Karl Fischer who believed, incorrectly, that each mole of I2 was equivalent to 2 moles of H2O ... 

The stability of the reagent is much improved by replacing MeOH with Me0CH2CH20H, and this forms the basis of the present-day Karl Fischer reagent. 

E. SCHOLZ, Karl Fischer Titration Determination of Water, Springer Verlag, Berlin, 1984, 150 pp. 

To this mixture there is then added slowly over a period of 30 minutes 10 grams of - -)-a-aminobenzylpenicillin beta-naphthalene sulfonate. The mixture is agitated for 3 hours at 25°-30°C. The product, D- -)-o -aminobenzylpenicillin trihydrate precipitates and is collected by filtration. The filter cake of the product is washed several times with methyl isobutyl ketone and is dried at 40°C. The product is obtained in about a 90% yield and has a potency of 865 mcg/mg. It is determined by Karl Fischer analysis to have a moisture content of 13.4% by weight. 

To remove water, commercial ionic liquids used for fundamental research purposes should be dried at 60 °C in vacuo overnight. The water content should be checked prior to use. This can be done qualitatively by infrared spectroscopy or cyclovoltametric measurements, or quantitatively by Karl-Fischer titration. If the ionic liquids cannot be dried to zero water content for any reason, the water content should always be mentioned in all descriptions and documentation of the experiments to allow proper interpretation of the results obtained. 

A selection of coulometric titrations of different types is collected in Table 14.2. It may be noted that the Karl Fischer method for determining water was first developed as an amperometric titration procedure (Section 16.35), but modern instrumentation treats it as a coulometric procedure with electrolytic generation of I2. The reagents referred to in the table are generated at a platinum cathode unless otherwise indicated in the Notes. 

DETERMINATION OF WATER WITH THE KARL FISCHER REAGENT 16.35... 

For the determination of small amounts of water, Karl Fischer (1935) proposed a reagent prepared by the action of sulphur dioxide upon a solution of iodine in a mixture of anhydrous pyridine and anhydrous methanol. Water reacts with this reagent in a two-stage process in which one molecule of iodine disappears for each molecule of water present ... 

The end point of the reaction is conveniently determined electrometrically using the dead-stop end point procedure. If a small e.m.f. is applied across two platinum electrodes immersed in the reaction mixture a current will flow as long as free iodine is present, to remove hydrogen and depolarise the cathode. When the last trace of iodine has reacted the current will decrease to zero or very close to zero. Conversely, the technique may be combined with a direct titration of the sample with the Karl Fischer reagent here the current in the electrode circuit suddenly increases at the first appearance of unused iodine in the solution. 

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