Solvent for crystallisation

Solid esters are easily crystallisable materials. It is important to note that esters of alcohols must be recrystallised either from non-hydroxylic solvents (e.g. toluene) or from the alcohol from which the ester is derived. Thus methyl esters should be crystallised from methanol or methanol/toluene, but not from ethanol, n-butanol or other alcohols, in order to avoid alcohol exchange and contamination of the ester with a second ester. Useful solvents for crystallisation are the corresponding alcohols or aqueous alcohols, toluene, toluene/petroleum ether, and chloroform (ethanol-free)/toluene. Esters of carboxylic acid derived from phenols... 

Carbon disulphide should never be used if any alternative solvent is available, as it has a dangerously low flash-point, and its vapours form exceedingly explosive mixtures with air. Ether as a solvent for recrystallisation is much safer than carbon disulphide, but again should be avoided whenever possible, partly on account of the danger of fires, and partly because the filtered solution tends to creep up the walls of the containing vessel and there deposit solid matter by complete evaporation instead of preferential crystallisation. 

When the correct solvent for recrystallisation is not known a procedure similar to that given on pp. 15-16 should be followed, but on the semi-micro scale not more than 10 mg. of the solid should be placed in the tapered-end test-tube (Fig. 29(B)) and about o i ml. of the solvent should be added from the calibrated dropping-pipette (Fig. 30(B)). If the compound dissolves readily in the cold, the solvent is unsuitable, but the solution should not be discarded. [In this case recourse should be had to the use of mixed solvents (p. 18). For example if the substance is very soluble in ethanol, water should be added from a calibrated pipette with shaking to determine whether crystallisation will now take place, indicated by a cloudiness or by the separation of solid.]... 

Acids that are solids can be purified in this way, except that distillation is replaced by repeated crystallisation (preferable from at least two different solvents such as water, alcohol or aqueous alcohol, toluene, toluene/petroleum ether or acetic acid.) Water-insoluble acids can be partially purified by dissolution in N sodium hydroxide solution and precipitation with dilute mineral acid. If the acid is required to be free from sodium ions, then it is better to dissolve the acid in hot N ammonia, heat to ca 80°, adding slightly more than an equal volume of N formic acid and allowing to cool slowly for crystallisation. Any ammonia, formic acid or ammonium formate that adhere to the acid are removed when the acid is dried in a vacuum — they are volatile. The separation and purification of naturally occurring fatty acids, based on distillation, salt solubility and low temperature crystallisation, are described by K.S.Markley (Ed.), Fatty Acids, 2nd Edn, part 3, Chap. 20, Interscience, New York, 1964. 

When polymerised the polymer is crystalline but has a surprisingly low reported melting point (T ) of 257°C. The ratio T /T of 0.91 (in terms of K) is uniquely high. Because of the small difference in Tg and there is little time for crystallisation to occur on cooling from the melt and processed polymer is usually amorphous. However, if molecular movements are facilitated by raising the temperature or by the presence of solvents, crystallisation can occur. 

Some solids are either too soluble, or the solubility does not vary sufficiently with temperature, in a given solvent for direct crystallisation to be practicable. In many cases, the solid can be precipitated from, say, a concentrated aqueous solution by the addition of a liquid, miscible with water, in which it is less soluble. Ethanol, in which many inorganic compounds are almost insoluble, is generally used. Care must be taken that the amount of ethanol or other solvent added is not so large that the impurities are also precipitated. Potassium hydrogencarbonate and antimony potassium tartrate may be purified by this method. 

A few words should be added about the washing of crystalline precipitates with the object of freeing them from adherent mother liquor. The same solvent as was used for crystallisation must always be employed and, since its solvent power for the substance, even in the cold, leads to more or less appreciable loss, it must be used in the smallest possible amounts. Suction should not be applied while washing the precipitate is saturated with the solvent and then the pump is turned on. 

NaBH4 has also been crystd from isopropylamine by dissolving it in the solvent at reflux, cooling, filtering and allowing the solution to stand in a filter flask connected to a Dry-ice/acetone trap. After most of the solvent was passed over into the cold trap, crystals were removed with forceps, washed with dry ethyl ether and dried under vacuum. [Kim and Itoh JPC 91 126 1987. Somewhat less pure crystals were obtained more rapidly by using Soxhlet extraction with only a small amount of solvent and extracting for about 8h. The crystals that formed in the flask were filtered off, then washed and dried as before. [Stockmayer, Rice and Stephenson JACS n 1980 7955]. Other solvents used for crystallisation include water and liquid ammonia. 

Crystallisation by Evaporation.—This method is employed when the substance is so easily soluble in all solvents (hot and cold) that it will only separate after partial evaporation. The solvent is allowed to evaporate spontaneously in the air or in a desiccator if in the latter the evaporation is greatly hastened by using a suitable absorbent as well as evacuating the desiccator. The type of vessel employed depends on the volatility of the solvent obviously the conical flask already recommended for crystallisation by cooling is not suitable for spontaneous evaporation, while a beaker or shallow crystallising dish is. When the latter type of vessel is used, crusts often form on the sides above the surface of the liquid. Such crusts seldom consist of pure substance, and they should be carefully removed with a spatula before attempting to filter off the crystals. 

The corresponding copper(I) adduct of pyridine functionalised carbene carrying only one pendant functional group shows interesting structural dependencies on the size of the wingtip group, the tether length and even the solvent used for crystallisation [26] (see... 

We will consider two drugs that exhibit this phenomenon. Spironolactone (I), which is a diuretic steroidal aldosterone agonist, crystallises as two polymorphic forms and also as four solvated crystalline forms depending on the solvents and methods used for crystallisation. We will consider the occurrence of solvated forms in section 1.4 at the moment we will concentrate on the two polymorphs only. Form 1 is produced when spironolactone powder is dissolved in acetone at a temperature very close to the boiling point and the solution is then cooled within a few hours down to O C. Form 2 is produced when the powder is dissolved in acetone, dioxane or chloroform at room temperature and the solvent is allowed to spontaneously evaporate over a period of several weeks. In both polymorphs the steroid nuclei (A, B, C and D rings)... 

Modification of the solvent of crystallisation may result in different solvated forms. This is of particular relevance because the hydrated and anhydrous forms of a dmg can have melting points and solubilities sufficiently different to affect their pharmaceutical behaviour. For example, glutethimide exists in both an anhydrous form (m.p. 83°C, solubility 0.042% at 25°C) and a hydrated form (m.p. 68°C, solubility 0.026% at 25°C). Other anhydrous forms show similar higher solubilities than the hydrated materials and, as expected, the anhydrous forms of caffeine, theophylline, glutethimide and cholesterol show correspondingly higher dissolution rates than their hydrates. 

The driving force for crystallisation of Silicon is the slow cooling of this saturated solvent. LPE have several advantages for solar cell production... 

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