May Baker Ltd

Butyl alcohol from May Baker Ltd. of Dagenham, England, was dried by refluxing 11. of the alcohol with approximately 40 g. of sodium wire until about two-thirds of the metal had dissolved, and, then recovering the alcohol by distillation (see Note 2 in Reference 5). The checkers used <-butyl alcohol available from Fisher Scientific Company and recommend conducting this purification on twofold scale. 

The submitters used pentane " petroleum spirit (b.p. 25-40°) available from Hopkin Williams Ltd., Hadwell Heath, England, and anhydrous diethyl ether available from May Baker Ltd., Dagenham, England. Both solvents were each distilled over solid potassium hydroxide before use. The checkers purchased pentane from Phillips Petroleum Company and distilled it over solid potassium hydroxide. Anhydrous diethyl ether supplied by Mallinckrodt Chemical Works was used without further purification. 

May Baker Ltd., Dagenham, Essex RM10 7XS, UK Professor W Pfleiderer... 

H (1947) (Hazards from chlorates perchlorates in admixtures) 43)May Baker Ltd, Chem Ind 1946, 89 CA 40, 2985 (1946) (Hazards in handling o-Nitro aromatic compds) 44)W. A.Bonner C.D.Hurd, JACS 68, 344-45 (1946) (Hazard involved in distillation of o-Nitrobenzoyl chloride) 45)W.G.Bailey A.Roy, JSCI 65, 421-22 (1946)... 

Michael J. Bowker studied chemistry and received his doctorate in Organic Chemistry from the University of Leeds, UK. After 5 years working for a multinational polymer company, he moved to May Baker Ltd., a UK subsidiary of Rhone-Poulenc Sante (now Sanoli-Aventis). He was a Director of Analytical Chemistry for about 15 years and, more recently. Director of Preformulation at Aventis Pharma Ltd. He has been intimately involved in preformulation and solid-state activities, on a worldwide basis for more than 15 years. He has published several research papers and one chapter for a book on pharmaceutical salts and is currently a Director of M. J. Bowker Consulting Limited, a small company undertaking consultancy in salt selection, polymorph selection and pharmaceutical preformulation. 

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