Industrial solvents isopropyl ether

Isopropyl Ether. Isopropyl ether is manufactured by the dehydration of isopropyl alcohol with sulfuric acid. It is obtained in large quantities as a by-product in the manufacture of isopropyl alcohol from propylene by the sulfuric acid process, very similar to the production of ethyl ether from ethylene. Isopropyl ether is of moderate importance as an industrial solvent, since its boiling point Hes between that of ethyl ether and acetone. Isopropyl ether very readily forms hazardous peroxides and hydroperoxides, much more so than other ethers. However, this tendency can be controlled with commercial antioxidant additives. Therefore, it is also being promoted as another possible ether to be used in gasoline (33). 

The following solvents are now manufactured on the large scale for industrial purposes ethylene dichloride, di-, tri-, and tetra-chloroethy-lene, tetrachloroethane, dichloroethyl ether, hexahydrobenzene, cyclo-hexanol, tetra- and deca-hydronaphthalene (tetralin and dekalin), triacetin, ethylene glycol, butyl alcohol, diacetone alcohol, ethyl lactate, isopropyl ether, etc. 

Industrial Solvents Handbook Table 10.13 Azeotropic Information-Isopropyl Ether (14)... 

Acetic acid is extracted from the demethanolized pyroligneous liquors resulting from the destructive distillation of wood (20, 63, 130) and from solutions of the cellulose acetate industries (27), with ethyl ether, isopropyl ether, ethyl acetate, or a mixture of the last two as solvents, in continuous processes. 

Liquid-liquid extraction. When the two phases are liquids, where a solute or solutes are removed from one liquid phase to another liquid phase, the process is called liquid-liquid extraction. One example is extraction of acetic acid from a water solution by isopropyl ether. In the pharmaceutical industry, antibiotics in an aqueous fermentation solution are sometimes removed by extraction with an organic solvent. 

Isopropyl alcohol is extensively used in cosmetics, particularly for hair and skin lotions, and in pharmacy for preparations intended for external use. A further large area of use is the paint and printing ink industry. Isopropyl alcohol is added to fuels to prevent the icing up of the carburetor and increase the octane number. It is an important feedstock for the chemical industry, for example, in the production of acetone (particularly in the United States), esters, plasticizers, and ethers. Isopropyl alcohol is also important as a solvent (e.g., for recrystallization and extraction) and as a moistening agent for cellulose nitrate. It is furthermore used in the aerosol sector. 

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