Reaction flask

For small quantities of compounds which are readily volatile in steam, it will often suffice to add water to the crude material in the reaction flask e.g,., Fig. 36) and to heat directly with a small flame. 

Assemble in a fume-cupboard the apparatus shown in Fig. 67(A). Place 15 g. of 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid and 17 g. of phosphorus pentachloride in the flask C, and heat the mixture in an oil-bath for hours. Then reverse the condenser as shown in Fig. 67(B), but replace the calcium chloride tube by a tube leading to a water-pump, the neck of the reaction-flask C being closed with a rubber stopper. Now distil off the phosphorus oxychloride under reduced pressure by heating the flask C in an oil-bath initially at 25-30, increasing this temperature ultimately to 110°. Then cool the flask, when the crude 3,5-dinitro-benzoyl chloride will solidify to a brown crystalline mass. Yield, 16 g., i.e,y almost theoretical. Recrystallise from caibon tetrachloride. The chloride is obtained as colourless crystals, m.p. 66-68°, Yield, 13 g Further recrystallisation of small quantities can be performed using petrol (b.p. 40-60°). The chloride is stable almost indefinitely if kept in a calcium chloride desiccator. 

The evil>smelling residue in the reaction flask is best removed by the cautious addition of concentrated nitric acid. 

Pinacolone. In a 500 ml. round-bottomed flask carrying a dropping funnel and a connection to a condenser set for distillation, place 50 g. of pinacol hydrate and 130 ml. of QN sulphuric acid. Distil the mixture until the upper layer of the distillate no longer increases in volume (15-20 minutes). Separate the pinacolone layer from the water and return the latter to the reaction flask. Then add 12 ml. of concentrated sulphuric acid to the water, followed by a second 50 g. portion of pinacol hydrate. Repeat the distillation. Repeat the process twice more until 200 g. of pinacol hydrate have been used. 

Separate the upper hydrocarbon layer from the distillate and extract the aqueous layer twice with 20 ml. portions of ether dry the combined upper layer and ethereal extracts with anhydrous magnesium sulphate, remove the ether on a water bath, and distil the residue from a 50 ml. Claisen flask. Collect the ethylbenzene at 135-136° the yield is 20 g. By extracting the s3Tupy liquid in the reaction flask with three 30 ml. portions of ether, a further 2 g. of ethylbenzene, b.p. 136°, may be obtained. Note,... 

Coumarin. In a 250 ml. round-bottomed flask, provided with a small reflux condenser and a calcium chloride drying tube at the top, place 2 1 g, of salicylaldehyde, 2 0 ml. of anhydrous triethylamine and 5 0 ml. of acetic anhydride, and reflux the mixture gently for 12 hours. Steam distil the mixture from the reaction flask and discard the distillate. Render the residue in the flask basic to litmus with solid sodium bicarbonate, cool, filter the precipitated crude coumarin at the pump and wash it with a little cold water. Acidify the filtrate to Congo red with... 

In a 500 ml. three-necked flask, equipped with a thermometer, mechanical stirrer and efficient reflux condenser, dissolve 16 g. of sodium hydroxide pellets in 95 ml. of hot methyl alcohol. Add 49 g. of guanidine nitrate, stir the mixture at 50-65° for 15 minutes, and then cool to about 20°. Filter oflF the separated sodium nitrate and wash with two 12 ml. portions of methyl alcohol. Return the combined filtrates to the clean reaction flask, add 69 g. of sulphanilamide (Section IX,9) and stir at 50-55° for 15 minutes. Detach the reflux condenser and, with the aid of a still-head ( knee-tube ), arrange the apparatus for distillation from an oil bath with stirring about 100 ml. of methyl alcohol are recovered. Add 12 g. of pure cycZohexanol. Raise the temperature of the oil bath to 180-190° and continue the distillation. Reaction commences with the evolution of ammonia when the uiternal temperature reaches 145°. Maintain the... 

Steam distillation.—For small quantities of compounds, which are readily volatile in steam, water may be added to the contents of the reaction flask (e.g. Figs. XII, 2,4 and XII, 2, 11) and the flask heated in an air bath or with a small flame. Alternatively, if preferred, steam may be passed into the reaction flask from a separate generator this may consist of a small conical flask provided with the usual safety tube (compare Fig. II, 40, 1). 

Another thing or two to remember when distilling is to wrap aluminum foil around the reaction flask. This will help stop heat loss so that things will distill quicker and at lower temperatures. Sometimes, if one is going to distill a solution that is just solvent and product, all that pure solvent that comes over first is perfectly reusable and should be saved for future extractions. 

You see that vacuum adapter stuck to the top of the condenser in fig. 7a Well, a closer look at it in fig. 7b will show that it has some drying agent sandwiched between two cotton balls and the nipple (tee heel) sealed with plastic wrap or foil. The drying agent can be either a commercial product called Drierite or calcium chloride. This attachment is placed on top of a condenser when refluxing solutions that have no water in them and must remain that way during the time they are refluxed. All this is to prevent moisture in the outside air from coming into contact with the cold surface of the of the inside walls of the condenser. This will surely happen and the condensed outside-air water will drip down into the reaction flask and ruin the experiment. This is not so much a... 

The next day comes and the hung-over chemist wakens to see a dark red solution stirring away. In some cases where the chemist had made an enormous batch of this stuff, there may be seen a small mass of crystalline precipitate at the bottom of the flask. This is no big deal and will go away in the next step. If the chemist had made this in a flat-bottomed flask (which she really should have for convenience) then the ice tray is removed, the flask returned to the stir plate, a distillation setup attached, and the acetone is vacuum distilled from the flask. After all the acetone has come over the chemist can proceed in two different ways. One way is to just keep on distilling the solution until all of the formic acid has been removed. The chemist knows that just about all the formic has been removed when there is about 300mL of thick black liquid remaining in the reaction flask and hardly any clear formic acid is dripping over into the collection flask. If one were to swirl the reaction flask, the liquid will appear syrupy and kind of coat the sides of the flask. This is more evident when the flask cools. A quick sniff of the flask may indicate that some formic is still in there, but it should be too minimal to be of any concern. 

The idea is to have everything in place before the oxygen is applied. So, lOOg of safrole is in the addition funnel and stirring around in the reaction flask are 10.6g of PdCU, 60g CuCI and 500mL of aqueous dimethylformamide (made by mixing 62.5mL dH20 and 437,5mL DMF). Dimethylformamide (DMF) is not the same as the watched chemical known as N-methylformamide. 

This procedure works equally well for both X and speed production. The set up used is the same as fig. 12 (remember, no vacuum) and into the reaction flask is placed 275 mL formamide, 80g MD-P2P or 70g P2P, and 55mL of 9% glacial acetic acid (50mL dHzO and 5mL glacial acetic acid, bubbal). This is slowly heated to 140-150 C in the oil bath and kept there for 5 hours. The lower the temperature at which a sustained reaction (bubbling) can occur the better. Suffice to say that 150°C should not be passed. Very early on the water and glacial acetic acid will have distilled over and can be discarded. 

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