Melting point organic compounds

The physical properties of low-melting-point organic materials are inadequate for certain types of applications. Hans Jaffe 27,28 showed that ceramic materials can be poled in the desired manner alter they are fired and cooled if they are properly compounded and processed. This important work opened up a new field for electret researdi and applications. 

Comparison of melting point data of the neutral organic acids and of the cocrystals and salts discussed herein yields another interesting observation. As shown in Fig. 17, the melting points of compounds 1C3-1C9 follow a trend very similar to that of the acids, i.e. they show an alternation of melting points as a function of the even-odd carbon chain length. 

Checking the Purification. The purity of the dry re-crystallised material must now be determined, as it is possible that repeated recrystallisation may be necessary to obtain the pure material. The purity is therefore checked by a melting-point determination, and the recrystallisation must be repeated until a sharp melting-point is obtained. Should the compound have no well-defined melting-point e.g.y the salt of an organic acid or base), it must be analysed for one suitable component element, until its analysis agrees closely with that theoretically required. 

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. 

Decolorisation by Animal Charcoal. It sometimes hap pens (particularly with aromatic and heterocyclic compounds) that a crude product may contain a coloured impurity, which on recrystallisation dissolves in the boiling solvent, but is then partly occluded by crystals as they form and grow in the cooling solution. Sometimes a very tenacious occlusion may thus occur, and repeated and very wasteful recrystallisation may be necessary to eliminate the impurity. Moreover, the amount of the impurity present may be so small that the melting-point and analytical values of the compound are not sensibly affected, yet the appearance of the sample is ruined. Such impurities can usually be readily removed by boiling the substance in solution with a small quantity of finely powdered animal charcoal for a short time, and then filtering the solution while hot. The animal charcoal adsorbs the coloured impurity, and the filtrate is usually almost free from extraneous colour and deposits therefore pure crystals. This decolorisation by animal charcoal occurs most readily in aqueous solution, but can be performed in almost any organic solvent. Care should be taken not to use an excessive quantity... 

The application of mixed melting point determinations to the identification of organic compounds has been described in Section 1,17. In order to gain experience the student should carry out the following simple experiment. 

The methods of preparation of some of the more important derivatives of a number of classes of organic compounds are described in the various Sections dealing with their reactions and characterisation. These Sections conclude with tables incorporating the melting points and boiling points of the compounds themselves, and also the melting points of selected derivatives. For convenience, the references to the various tables are collected below. 

The melting points and boiling points of carboxylic acids are higher than those of hydro carbons and oxygen containing organic compounds of comparable size and shape and indicate strong mtermolecular attractive forces... 

The metallic salts of trifluoromethanesulfonic acid can be prepared by reaction of the acid with the corresponding hydroxide or carbonate or by reaction of sulfonyl fluoride with the corresponding hydroxide. The salts are hydroscopic but can be dehydrated at 100°C under vacuum. The sodium salt has a melting point of 248°C and decomposes at 425°C. The lithium salt of trifluoromethanesulfonic acid [33454-82-9] CF SO Li, commonly called lithium triflate, is used as a battery electrolyte in primary lithium batteries because solutions of it exhibit high electrical conductivity, and because of the compound s low toxicity and excellent chemical stabiUty. It melts at 423°C and decomposes at 430°C. It is quite soluble in polar organic solvents and water. Table 2 shows the electrical conductivities of lithium triflate in comparison with other lithium electrolytes which are much more toxic (24). 

The equimolar copolymer of ethylene and tetrafluoroethylene is isomeric with poly(vinyhdene fluoride) but has a higher melting point (16,17) and a lower dielectric loss (18,19) (see Fluorine compounds, organic-poly(VINYLIDENE fluoride)). A copolymer with the degree of alternation of about 0.88 was used to study the stmcture (20). Its unit cell was determined by x-ray diffraction. Despite irregularities in the chain stmcture and low crystallinity, a unit cell and stmcture was derived that gave a calculated crystalline density of 1.9 g/cm. The unit cell is befleved to be orthorhombic or monoclinic (a = 0.96 nm, b = 0.925 nm, c = 0.50 nm 7 = 96%. 

Metalloid peroxides behave as covalent organic compounds and most ate insensitive to friction and impact but can decompose violentiy if heated rapidly. Most soHd metalloid peroxides have weU-defined melting points and the mote stable Hquid members can be distilled (Table 3). Some... 

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