Make Ethyl Propionate by Fischer Esterfication and Molecular Sieves with a Soxhlet extractor

In this video we synthesize Ethyl Propionate by Fischer Esterification but help along the process using molecular sieves and a soxhlet extractor.
Esters are formed by reacting acids and alcohols. A byproduct of this reaction is water. Unfortunately the water present can react back with the ester formed to destroy it and create the original acid and alcohol again. To drive such reactions forward either the water or ester has to be removed.
In the case of ethyl propionate in particular. We previously only obtained 40% yield when reacting propionic acid and ethanol. All attempts to improved the yield using different quantities of reagents failed.
Water is difficult to remove from this mixture because water is higher boiling than ethanol and ethyl propionate so they should distill off first. Even worse is that water forms azeotropes with them so we'd never be able to distill just the water.
In another video we showed that molecular sieves could very effectively remove dissolved water from organic solvents. Unfortunately they are destroyed by acids.
Luckily there is a workaround. The soxhlet extractor we showed in a previous video can hold the molecular sieves and expose them to the volatiles from the boiling esterification mixture. The acids are generally not very volatile so they don't come in contact with the molecular sieves. But if the azeotropes from the esterification mixture contain water, even if just a few percent, then the molecular sieves will remove the water and return the rest of the organics to the esterification mixture. With time the continual removal of water drives the reaction forward.
In our video we mixed 80mL of propionic acid, 100mL of ethanol and 4mL of sulfuric acid. On top of an erlenmeyer flask containing our boiling mixture, we setup a 100mL capacity soxhlet extractor containing 80g of dried molecular sieves. after heating for 8 hours, the mixture was washed with 100mL water and the organic phase recovered to give 103g or 93% of very crude product. Fractional distillation may be used for additional purification.
Related videos:
The original video on making Ethyl Propionate: • Make Ethyl Propionate ...
Drying alcohol with molecular sieves: • Drying Alcohol Using M...
Soxhlet extractor: • Lab Equipment: Soxhlet...
Donate to NurdRage!
Through Patreon (preferred): / nurdrage
Through Bitcoin: 1NurdRAge7PNR4ULrbrpcYvc9RC4LDp9pS
Glassware generously provided by www.alchemylabs...
Use the discount code "nurdrage" for a 5% discount.
Social media links:
Twitter: / nurdrage
Facebook: / nurdrageyoutube
Instagram: / nurdrageyoutube
This video generously sponsored by my patrons:
Jon Stanovich
Michael Zappe
Emil Mikulic
Alex S.
Cullen Purkis
Simon Bitdiddle
Matthew Brunette
Lord Martin Hill
Carl Potter
Phillip Hutchings
Dino Capiaghi
Roger
Robert Boll
Tyler Bushey
Andrea Nall
Jacob Gruber
Michael
Marius Klimantavičius
Stephen Stair
Daniel Astbury
Shutaro Highwind
Bobby Nansel
Michael Gregg
Bryan Boettcher
Martel DuVigneaud
Mark Rose
Dror Kronstein
doug dysart
Dom Vasta
Syam Krishnan
Nick Kinnan
Zane Bacon
Uocjat
Anthony Rodriguez
Antton Tapani
Henry Wu
steve
Samuel Pelzer
Wesley Gardner
Brian Nietfeld
Micha Gorelick
Thor
David Drueding
Kay Bærulfsen
Matt Sieker
Florent Parent
Craig M.
Py
Syniurge
Marcio Yukio Teruya
Timothy Vincent
Danny Chan
Miguel-Angel Gutierrez
Casey Kikendall
Egan Loughran
evan
Feliksas
George Jefferies
Alex Wilson
Pablo Soares
Leon Verrall
Michal Z
Ben Anderson
Applied Science
Kremling
Wolf Bennett
Christian Cooper
Chase Curtis
Connor Reed
Collin B Douglas
Dean Bailey
Patrick Sweetman
Daniel L.
David Gilmour
Leonard Marshall
Mecha Chocobo
Jason King
Evan Schuld
Chris M Guerra
Samuel Mun
Daniel McLaughlin
Christian Ullrich
Adrian Kleven
Craig House
Mark Beeunas
David
John Bonnin
Max Loutzenheiser
LVE
Myndert Papenhuyzen
Jeffrey Morse
jMe4505
Braxton Thomason
Hy Diep
Ricardo
CNK054so
Timothy Glore
Akshay Joshi
rd
Åsmund Tveten
Triple Cee
Pascal De Lisio
Robin Beckett
Jonathan
Jason Brammer
James McIlhargey
Marius
Damien P
Bas Hessels
Mark Keibler
Rob Parker
LFTRnow
Donald W
Paul Grodt
John Wasser
Samuel Ytterbrink
Magnus Ott Kartin
Daniel Åland
Joshua Books
Joshua Rogers
Julian Nicolai
Dean Leggo
Sac LeGaie
Aner Nitsan
Grey Shot
Xandorcode
Joshua Crager
Rebecca Chung
cj6xu6ru
Goodwine
Meyer
Bill Noren
Tyler Faruque
Bob Drucker
Ariesticnig
Bear
OpenArms
Marc Ethier
Greg Emmons
Woobly
Mark L
Kelvin
Joshua L Digiacomo
Al Longley
nBoost
Lior Z.L
Output Coupler
Sam Pinches
Zach Schneider
Johann Massyn
upsidedownoj
Herbert999
Joe Szymanski
Rauni Kangas
Stephen
Andrew Montagne
Tristan Putzeys
Emil Lund
Jeff LeBell
Gawdwin
Charles Harris
Daniel Baizel
Robert H. Guinn
Paraffine
Randi Silva
Ed McMullen
H Lambert
Hannah Walters
Hector Ruvalcaba
dastrike
Rescla
Sandra Dietz
Louis Lan

[@elnombre91]

Soxhlet extraction is a criminally underrated tool in synthetic chemistry. People need to get in the know.

[@MuzikBike]

Good to see you're still exchanging carbon and oxygen with your environment.

[@NurdRage]

My personal contribution to global warming and climate change

[@MuzikBike]

Well you're still eating almost the same amount of carbon. Which brings up the weird question: every time someone eats something, how many atoms of that food have passed through their body before?

[@Teth47]

I believe the answer is ~every 5 years you'll end up with some of the same atoms in you. It took about 10 years for the air Einstein breathed to disperse throughout the atmosphere, and now about every month you'll breathe some of the same air he did. You're also likely to have eaten some Carbon that was once a part of Hitler.

[@lefr33man]

+Muzik Bike That's not very specific, as you still do that even when you're dead :)

[@0xbaadf00d]

Don't forget hydrogen.

[@lefr33man]

oh cool, I always wanted to make make ethyl propionate by Fischer esterfication and molecular sieves with a Soxhlet extractor !

[@rutwizz]

lefr33man I didn't have a "Reaction" to that comment!

[@MartKencuda]

I was just thinking the other day "Man, it's been a while since I made ethyl propionate by Fischer esterfication and molecular sieves with a Soxhlet extractor."

[@Scalemailmailmail]

If I had a dime for every time someone made ethyl propionate by Fischer esterfication and molecular sieves with a Soxhlet extractor, I would be a millionaire!

[@NeuronalAxon]

Looks like you're in luck!

[@empt60]

Glad to see a chemist using something in an innovative way. A lot of very useful equipment is often overlooked because people don't think about it being used for synthetic purposes.

[@jaredmorein]

Very interesting, and I plan to use this genius idea with the molecular sleeves and Soxhlet in a Fischer esterification I will be doing soon. However, I would like to make one recommendation, I've found in my experiments with ethyl esters that any leftover ethanol tends to drag a LOT of your precious esters into your water layer while doing a water wash. I was losing more than half of my product from this method. A better method would be to either simply just strip off the ethanol first, or use another extraction solvent such as an ether or a ketone that is immiscible with water. Since the ethanol tends to drag your product into the water, the other solvent would help keep more of your ester in the organic layer. The question just becomes whether you care more about time or yield, since any solvent you add to the wash is something you have to distill off later if you want pure product. Thanks for all of your great work, I very much enjoy your videos! Keep them coming!

[@NurdRage]

First video of 2017

[@TKGMoMoSheep]

Finally!!

[@Camilo19832001]

NurdRage bout time!!

[@theshippuuden]

Gr8 vid m8

[@brozach1394]

Greatly worth the wait. This video was Awesome!

[@drvelocci]

NurdRage great vid. Love your videos. I've been a subscriber since before you quit for a bit. Probably 4 years ago

[@devjock]

93% yield, well done sir! That is an amazing improvement over the last attempt, and it seems to be less work too. What a great trick!

[@drummer265]

I barely understand most of his videos, but damnit do I love watching them.

[@firstmkb]

I loved the different procedure that doubled the yield, and the (too brief) discussion of additional possibilities. Thanks for posting!

[@swedneck]

Holy shit someone already added this to the "see also" part on the wikipedia page for ethyl propionate.

[@NurdRage]

Was it you? :)

[@swedneck]

NurdRage Someone called "halfcookie" apparently.

[@old-bitprogaming4857]

NurdRage lol

[@sivalley]

THE UNKNOWN Get out. This is a chemistry channel, not political science or social engineering.

[@XXCoder]

Suggest just report.

[@myrusEW]

Dude! I totally understand that title COMPLETELY and I was always wondering how I could do this! Thanks, NurdRage!

[@eriko807]

THE UNKNOWN it was sarcasm dumbass.

[@geologist_luna]

In my lab I use similar sieves to remove boron from rocks to assist in the determination of the source of fluid mobile elements. I love the use of these as they really make life a lot easier than doing it the old wet method. Great vid.

[@unreachablechemistry5105]

A great video! I love that the soxhlet apparatus, which has been designed to perform one job, has so many other uses as well. Very neat trick.

[@jopomeister]

I have no idea what any of this means but it's peaceful and weirdly enjoyable to watch. Nicely done!

[@j_sum1]

Clever. I like this approach. Coincidentally, I received my soxhlet in the mail yesterday. Plenty of fun awaits.

[@spantim]

I had this idea for some time and it's great to see you actually do this. Maybe you could, like you said, use an excess of propionic acid and boil off the ethyl propionate. If you remove all the water from the reaction you can remove the acid with sodium hydroxide and you'll get pure ethyl propionate.

[@aga5897]

Wonderful lateral thinking ! So many people just use the bits of glass how they were intended.

[@TanaNicoleKitty]

This is my favorite channel on KZbin. Glad you're still making videos!

[@FranktheDachshund]

Awesome work around!

[@markbell9742]

Very nice, a very useful technique. Cheers, Mark

[@OrbitalRose_01]

that's an impressive improvement over the previous process!

[@stcrussman]

I understand what "make", "by" and "with" mean, so I should be able to get the basics of this.

[@RoelfvanderMerwe]

stcrussman I feel you bro

[@eriko807]

THE UNKNOWN you are the single-digit IQed moron that is spamming edgy comments on this video. Please leave, nobody wants you here.

[@stcrussman]

You're not a good person.

[@agent475816]

Well ethyl propyonate is a chemical (product). Fischer esterification is a mechanism proposed by Emil Fischer where an alcohol and a carboxylic acid react to form an ester (hence the name Fischer esterification). Molecular sieves are those bead things that absorb water, and soxhlet extractor is the thing he showed.

[@eriko807]

THE UNKNOWN Based off the fact that you are getting triggered over a person's comment, I would say you are the one who needs a life :) Also, just because someone gets likes on their posts doesn't mean they are liking their own comments. But I know that is hard for you to understand considering nobody likes you :)

[@jimsmindonline]

Jealous of your awesome collection of glassware! Glad to see the first vid of 2017, keep up the good work!

[@brettreiff]

Hello. I an a HUGE fan of your work. I had a quick request. I was attempting to shop around for a more efficient condenser that I had recently found. I am now looking for a more efficient fractionating column as of now. I was wondering if you could do a video about the various types of glass condencers, their efficiency and niche uses as well as the fractionating columns. You were the person who inspired me to start studying in this field. Perhaps you can assist me in my cause right now. Thank you either way. And I will continue to enjoy your videos and drinking in all the knowledge I can. So even if it's touching on the subject just a little I feel it would be helpfull.

[@xXTheFrancoXx]

your videos are very inspiring

[@tyopsie]

I like how you showed putting the apparatus together. I have a small idea. maybe you would want to show us how the flow works with a quick Visual w arrows and such. Great vid!

[@zock4419]

You are my favourite KZbinr !

[@confusername6572]

You were correct to plan ahead

[@bromisovalum8417]

Soxhlets are cool, also great for making plant extractions.

[@science_and_anonymous]

I love these types of reactions. I remember first doing this but with making methly salicylate

[@billsmathers7787]

Good luck on the Claisen! I've had lo luck getting them to work with sieve dried alkoxide.

[@Nerd-px7fn]

Great to see you uploading again!

[@photonthelatios7828]

This gave me the idea of refluxing sodium hydroxide and absolute ethanol over 3A sieves in a soxhlet extractor to form sodium ethoxide for preparation of triethyl orthoformate. I haven't tried yet but we'll see if it works.

[@dimaminiailo3723]

it works

[@ashW110]

NurdRage. I am quite surprised you didn't neutralize the final product in the alkaline solution. In my video, where I synthesize ethyl acetate by Fischer esterification the ester was reasonably acidic, and I had to neutralize it in the solution of sodium carbonate.

[@NurdRage]

after two water washings the acidity is negligible. The acid almost exclusively remains in the water layer.

[@ashW110]

That makes sense. I though since a slight amount of water is soluble in esters, little amount of acid will still remain in the product, even after multiple DH2O washing. I believe, since this ester will be used as a reagent to synthesize the pyrimethamine initially, the alkaline wash is really unnecessary. Great video, using sieves in Soxhlet apparatus is an excellent idea. Never seen it before.

[@NurdRage]

As said before the acid is negligible. But you'll also note that i'm storing over molecular sieves. Acids react with sieves. So that's a crappy, but still functional, acid removal method. Since the amount is negligible i'm not worried about destroying the sieves, they'll still remain 99% functional

[@ashW110]

Of course, I didn't consider the sieves, now I clearly see your point. I am still very curious to know the pH of the ester you stored in sieves. Whether it is still slightly acidic or neutral?

[@kapilmamtani8676]

Thank you.

[@tylorbray]

Good Video, thumbs up.

[@cyan_oxy6734]

awesome idea!

[@BlueBeamProductions]

i have no idea what you are making or what you use to make it, but it looks cool!

[@jddj5064]

Can you do a Video about extracting the potassium nitrate and sulfur from gunpowder? I feel like it is relatively easy obtained and the ingredients can be used to make some more interesting "stuff".

[@evilplaguedoctor5158]

That is brilliant! I don't think I would ever have thought of that (but then again, I'm no chemist :p)

[@Ottmar555]

I would advise to keep the ethanol excess, as it will help drive the reaction forward. We are researching the purification of lactic acid via an estherification reaction, and at least in a continuous process it's still desirable to have some ethanol excess and the extra is simply recirculated. You could also use highly acidic ion exchange resin which makes separation easier and can last for years without the need for reactivation.

[@NurdRage]

true. In this particular case going stoichiometric might still work since the ethyl propionate also has a low boiling azeotrope with water and would also recirculate. If we're going with heavier esters then yeah, excess ethanol may still be necessary. I've been looking for a domestically available source of cationic exchange resin (which can be easily converted to acid). So far i'm looking at water softener resin but i'm unsure if it'll survive organic synthesis.

[@Ottmar555]

It's a matter of process simulation, which is a beast on its own. I'm afraid I can't detail much more of the process, but if you find a way to run a continuous distillation, maybe I could run some simulations for you. Currently we are using lab grade resin, but for home projects I'm considering pool resins, which are way cheaper and there are some which are advertised as highly acidic and in theory should resist. I'll report my findings later.

[@ZZeeNiCey]

well done

[@ЖанибекБекхожин]

Amazing!!

[@loganrhodes1899]

I wish I could afford a chemistry set man.. I need lab gear, so much to learn... so many experiments to be done.

[@Bluegeneral05]

Love your videos man! My girlfriend is a Biochemist and I love learning about chemistry and asking her questions. Kinda wish I had gone for a Chem degree now! Keep it up man!

[@EdSchneeebly]

A thought I had early on, after ''what a great idea!'' was ''would magnesium sulfate or calcium chloride be faster?''. In principle they'll work, and I suspect faster, but are there any practical limitations to them that you'll only realise upon doing it?? I've not got a soxhlet, yet, so can't predict. Nice video!

[@NurdRage]

Calcium chloride dissolves slightly in alcohols and esters. it's not much, but what does a soxhlet extractor do best? extract substances of very tiny solubility. You'll end up with the calcium chloride dissolving in the recirculating solvent and massively contaminating in the product in the boiling flask Calcium chloride could begin reacting with your acids and creating other products. This may diminish the rate or quality of your reaction. Magnesium sulfate tends to clump as it gets wet. You'll end up with a rock-hard mass of magnesium sulfate that doesn't absorb any more water (since the solvents can't access the interior). It's not as soluble as calcium chloride but clumping makes its performance less predictable. Molecular sieves are also simply better than both of them at drying. This is important for azeotropes that have very tiny amounts of water. You might end up taking *longer* to use calcium chloride or magnesium sulfate since they're not good at absorbing tiny quantities of water. You can give it a try, i don't think it'll fail outright. But considering how predictable and easy to handle molecular sieves are, i prefer to use the sieves even if they take time.

[@EdSchneeebly]

Thanks for that! you've saved me a future headache! I've never used molecular sieves as a drying agent, but for my dissertation am mounting them, to produce heterogeneous catalysts in the synth organic lab. What field of chem are you learned/lecture in?

[@SuperKillerkarnickel]

nice video! I wanted to try to make sodium ethoxide without sodium metal just using NaOH + ethanol the same way. I still have no Soxhlet and not enough time.

[@sriver1283]

Why aren't you using a Dean-Stark Trap and Toluol or Xylol to remove the water? It's easier and you should get a better yield with this method! To remove traces of sulphuric acid you should wash your crude product with a NaHC03 solution! Really enjoy watching your channel

[@NurdRage]

How do you separate the azeotrope of ethyl propionate and toluene/xylene?

[@maachimiste]

NurdRage there have also an azeotrope with cyclohexane ? we can find good solvant for dean stark no ? but it's a good alternative of a dean stark when we can't use good video i love your channel ♡

[@kevins6277]

Well, learned my lesson buying cheap shit from Amazon. The soxhlet extractor I bought came from China, which also took 2 months to get. The siphon was cracked and leaked (fixed that), and the top of the siphon was damn near closed. I paid $45 for this POS. Oh, and the joints were slightly crooked, WTF?!?!?! I will be saving my money and buying from alchemylabsupply. Thanks for the videos, and being able to get the 5% discount.

[@matsudaindustries2530]

Can you extract iron from blood?

[@skvalparn]

Hi i would Love to see a video showing the process companies use to produce proteinpowder!

[@viru52000]

whey protein is simply the protein rich liquid that is left over from making cheese. Curds is the solid that separates out and is compressed into cheese. Unseparated, it's curds and whey, which you may remember from a nursery rhyme.

[@dontcare4177]

Do you ever freeze the water out? "Cold box distillation" I do it with my mead.

[@fmdj]

could that possibly work with a regular fractionating column that you plug near the top with a bag full of molecular sieves?

[@ShroomLab]

Does adding magnesiumsulfate (dry) work as well?

[@primarkbandit8535]

Hey. Can you isolate and immobilise urease from whatever source and use it to make ammonia.

[@engineeringentropy8965]

Very clever

[@rutwizz]

I am 16, and you rock NurdRage. Also, what is that periodic buildup and drain in the Soxhlet Tube from 3:50 ?

[@rutwizz]

Spooky Wizard Well Thanks Though!

[@VenomsDelight]

I'd be interested in a video about the production of Aluminum Oxynitride. Any chance that can happen?

[@jakob1410]

Would dry MgSO4 be able to remove enough water to be feasable? Should be quite inert. But maybe the slurry would be very hard to mix...

[@NurdRage]

A difficulty with MgSO4 is that you need to be able to stir it into the mixture. If it sits still while it's absorbing water then to clumps together into a hard rock that stops further absorption. It could also clog the soxhlet. Give it a try if you want, i think the convenience of sieves is more advantageous.

[@jakob1410]

Yes, the method shown is clearly more usefull. When I use it for drying crude products it clumps up. But using even more loosens it up again. So maybe usefull in certain circumstances. These observations are from lab work with nice excess DCM, EtOAc or pentane solvents and the luxury of a chemical supplier. It is funny that esterfication can be such a hassle when done at home. Great stuff

[@krisztianszirtes5414]

On the other hand what about dry copper sulphate? I cad it cake into a flask way less times.

[@PlasmaHH]

Nice trick, why haven't I seen aynthing like that anywhere else? Is there maybe a superior process or did nobody bother?

[@NurdRage]

it actually is used quite a bit: on an industrial scale. The wonderful thing about it is that it's essentially waste free, the molecular sieves can be regenerated in place by simply heating them and pumping dry air through. For laboratory work, most chemists don't bother and go with the more common dean-stark apparatus or they just use highly reactive reagents like acyl chlorides which get the job done in minutes rather than the hours it takes molecular sieves. Being an amateur, i can afford to be patient and go the slow but safe/cheap way.

[@PlasmaHH]

That explains it very well, thanks!

[@Automaticguns1]

hey nerdrage i maybe the only one who wants to see this but can u try getting some ferrofluid and try filtering the ferrofluid i just want to see if u can filter it and see what it looks like filtered

[@FPengu1n]

Rather curious why you don't just use stociometric sulfuric acid to dehydrate the water as you go, then extract at the end to obtain your product?

[@DisruptivleySekC]

I only know half the words in your titles, but I love the videos nonetheless lmao. Cheers Nerd. ~Marcus

[@SirDrinksAlot69]

For giggles can you try decapping some IC's using your soxhlet extractor? I'm sure us nerds who sub to both you and EEVBlog would like it :)

[@tzimmermann]

Man, I feel less alone now!

[@drkastenbrot]

Toaster Chicken yep

[@ThomasShatter]

+THE UNKNOWN Integrated circuits.

[@suhasdara3040]

+ThomasShatter No shit sherlock. ICs are ice-creams obviously -_-

[@cardboardconnoisseur9155]

+Suhas Dara Why so mean? we're not all into EE.

[@tggd8423]

No trolling, I need to make this exact compound in the lab tomorrow, lmao. Not using molecular sieves and a soxhlet extractor, though :P

[@NovemberBegin]

damn 93% is awesome

[@netspirit79]

If you want to remove ethanol, you can use 4A molecular sieves in the end

[@rouvenr1414]

Recently I thought about replacing the molecular sieves with silica gel. Might that work?

[@experimentalaquimica]

You can use silica gel?

[@karlramberg]

Cool

[@pilchtastic]

Seeeev!

[@al_kaloid]

Soxhlet*, dear Dr. n-BuLi ;) Okay, okay, I'm going to watch the video now :P

[@NurdRage]

ah gotcha, fixed!

[@al_kaloid]

This is actually a great method for ester syntheses if one is lacking a Dean-Stark apparatus. Never thought of it, perhaps because I'd still need the mol sieves :/ Guess it's about time.. Thanks, anyway! (One could argue that molecular sieves are a comparable investment to a D-S trap, considering the need of the Soxhlet extractor, but fuck it.. they are far more versatile and I really like the idea :D)

[@NurdRage]

What's cool about this method is that it even works for cases where a dean stark trap doesn't work. A dean-stark trap requires the distillate to phase separate. But in the case of ethyl propionate-ethanol-water azeotrope, it doesn't. I actually tried it and the vapors never separated. Molecular sieves don't need phase separation and in fact work better when the solution is homogeneous. They're a bit more hassle than a dean-stark, no arguing there, but they can be applied to a wider range of jobs when coupled with a soxhlet to keep them safe. I do prefer a dean stark, but when it doesn't work, the soxhlet-MS combo usually does.

[@brettreiff]

And with ethyl acetate it forms a Tercery azeotrope of 70.3% ethyl acetate, 7.8%h2o and 9.0% ethanol. Perhaps it would form a similar azeotrope?

[@dimaminiailo3723]

Maybe, but the composition of an azeotrope doesn't matter. With such a bad "rectification column" the water will be distilled in any case

[@kerrycollins9597]

A convenient route to propionic acid involves oxidizing n propyl alcohol with nitric acid.

[@RoelfvanderMerwe]

Can you repeat the part where you said about the things?

[@Thingsthatgopew22]

Storing it with molecular sives dont hinder reaction with the water inside the molecular sives, or am I wrong? My thesis: The water is still there, unreacted, just temporary locked inside the sives. All IP in direct contact with it will react with it, given enough time.

[@eriko807]

THE UNKNOWN why dont you use your one brain cell and fuck off. You are an unnecessarily salty being, nobody wants to read your comments.

[@vojtator]

Would this be viable with dehydrated calcium chloride?

[@NurdRage]

That tends to dissolve a TINY bit in polar organic solvents, like alcohols and esters. While it's very small, what does a soxhlet extractor do best? extract substances of very tiny solubility. You'll end up with the calcium chloride dissolving in the recirculating solvent and massively contaminating in the product. Calcium chloride could begin reacting with your acids and creating other products. This may diminish the rate or quality of your reaction. But even if that weren't the issue, calcium chloride is good at drying, but molecular sieves are simply far better. This is especially important if you have azeotropes that have very tiny amounts of water.

[@sjn7220]

A little MgSO4 would get rid of the cloudiness.

[@martinofgliwice1486]

What about using benzene/toluene to drive away water as an azeotrope than returning just benzene/toluene via dean-stark trap?

[@dimaminiailo3723]

This works when both alcohol and acid are non-volatile. TsOH is prefferable to use because of the oxididizing properties of sulfuric acid.

[@lukasstib]

Can I use Soxhlet extractor with 3A molecula sieves for methyl and ethyl methanoate? Is low boiling point MM problem?

[@dimaminiailo3723]

It is better to distill away the formate esters themselves. I prepared methyl formate this way. The good column is prefferable to work with, I have about 300 mm long and performed distillation not too fast, keeping an eye on the thermometer.

[@gielzorn9725]

Does anybody know if this esterfication would function under vacuum conditions? Can't seem to find any information on vacuum soxhlet extractions. Would it work?

[@dimaminiailo3723]

It will work, but the Soxhlet is usually used under atmospheric pressure only. The stirring is mandatory, remember

[@danielf.7151]

Just out of curiosity, would your videos be considered a credible source to use in a publication?

[@NurdRage]

I don't think so. The ephemeral nature of youtube videos, the fact that youtube is chock-full of... not very credible videos... and the fact that there is no editor or peer review makes information presented here highly suspect at best. While i appreciate what other people post here, I'd never use it in my publications.

[@d1s1ntegrator56]

how much does molecular sieves absorb water?

[@DaniPaunov]

make a video about "touch powder" (nitrogen triiodide)

[@TV-gv1js]

where I can get propionic acid?

[@oppotato5440]

Can you do a lab tour

[@Metazone101]

Is it possible to make anhydrous alcohol with the molecular sieves? Say from 95% to 99.9% Doh! you have a video on it. Never mind...

[@williamsquires3070]

What. Happened to your stir bar?! It looks all burned up. :(

[@redneckchemist6506]

He was probably using it with sodium or magnesium. Most alkali metals will react with the Teflon coating and darken it.

[@lpphoenix131]

It's my birthday today!

[@MuzikBike]

Mine was 10 days ago

[@eriko807]

Muzik Bike mine is in 4 months.

[@computercat8694]

Can you distill beer?

[@ClownWhisper]

Gaylord Ray J might be able to liberate one spectra-physics argon laser with power supply in fiber optics cable I don't know if you do any experiments they require blue coherent light then again this is not for sure I'm checking. I don't know if you have any interest in this it is a very expensive piece I think it retails for $11,000 and it's only been used five or six times

[@TheMeilinger]

if only one had a dean-stark apparatus ;)

[@NurdRage]

doesn't work when there is no phase separation.

[@TheMeilinger]

NurdRage ah i see. i though you initially wanted to use this before you broke your dean-stark :D

[@scron7525]

Ground breaking stuff.

[@rockyrivermushrooms529]

can you make some ETN?

[@cardboardconnoisseur9155]

+Spooky Wizard Seriously.

[@XXCoder]

Just report and move on. Kills trolls faster by not talking to them and report posts.

[@eriko807]

THE UNKNOWN triggered

[@VaradJoshi1999]

Instead of Fischer esterification why don't u first make propanoyl chloride by reacting propanoic acid and pcl5 or pcl3 or socl2 (available to u) then reacting with ethanol. that won't be in equilibrium and will give u great yield.

[@NurdRage]

1) Cost 2) Where the heck is an amateur going to get those chemicals? :) 3) Cost 4) Safety - those chemicals can burn your hand off, give you cancer and/or kill your lungs at which point you die a slow horrible death. Molecular sieves can be handled with your bare hands. 5) Cost 6) waste disposal - it's a lot more convenient to have a reaction that essentially produces no waste except wet molecular sieves that can easily be redried and reused. Those chemical you mentioned produce other byproducts that must be dealt with. 7) Cost 8) ease of handling - setup a soxhlet extractor and walk away while you play witcher 3. Those other chemicals require monitoring and skill to handle. An experienced chemist can easily do it, but even a hobbyist can handle a soxhlet extractor. 9).... did i mention cost?

[@VaradJoshi1999]

ohh..ya 😅u r r8. I am too an amateur chemist..

[@VaradJoshi1999]

NurdRage but I think ur videos r like pro! dude!!👍

[@moertelruehrer]

beacuse neither phosphorus penta-, trichloride or thionyl chloride are "OTC" chemicals. He want's to make the drug from readily available stuff

[@bhu1334]

first for real

[@TheHuntermj]

BHU1 LORD 33rd!

[@jacobshin4279]

What do you think of bitcoin prices?

[@ramunesoda73395]

Make thermite with black iron oxide

[@FizzlNet]

8th!

[@kittyrules]

For some reason youtube keeps on unsubscribing me from you and I missed all of your last 6 months or so of stuff. Stupid youtube