Alcohol Solvent

A solvent is a substance, most often a liquid, that can dissolve other substances. Here, the substance being dissolved is called a solute. When a solvent and a solute combine, they form a solution - a homogenous mixture of both the solvent and the solute. Water is a universal biological solvent. Its polar structure allows it to dissolve many other polar compounds. The ability of water to dissolve is governed by a balance between water molecules binding to each other and binding to the solute. A...

Source: Lara Al Hariri and Ahmed Basabrain at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, USA Ferric Chloride Test for PhenolsExpand In this lab, you will identify an unknown alcohol using the ferric chloride test, the Jones test, and the Lucas test. You'll test known alcohols alongside the unknown alcohol as examples of positive and negative results for each test. The four known alcohols are 1-butanol, a primary alcohol, 2-butanol, a secondary alcohol, 2-methyl-2-propanol, a tertiary...

Source: Lara Al Hariri at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, USA Preparation of ReagentsExpand Here, we show the laboratory preparation for 10 students working in pairs, with some excess. Please adjust quantities as needed. Before you begin, put on a lab coat, safety glasses, and nitrile gloves, and set up a waste container for aqueous chromium, iron, and zinc waste. Note: Work in a fume hood because the reagents are acidic, toxic, and corrosive. The reagents undergo...

Source: Dr. Melanie Pribisko Yen and Grace Tang — California Institute of Technology Rotary evaporation is a technique most commonly used in organic chemistry to remove a solvent from a higher-boiling point compound of interest. The rotary evaporator, or "rotovap", was invented in 1950 by the chemist Lyman C. Craig. The primary use of a rotovap is to dry and purify samples for downstream applications. Its speed and ability to handle large volumes of solvent make rotary evaporation a preferred...

Source: Hsin-Chun Chiu and Tyler J. Morin, laboratory of Dr. Ian Tonks—University of Minnesota Twin Cities Schlenk lines and high vacuum lines are both used to exclude moisture and oxygen from reactions by running reactions under a slight overpressure of inert gas (usually N2 or Ar) or under vacuum. Vacuum transfer has been developed as a method separate solvents (other volatile reagents) from drying agents (or other nonvolatile agents) and dispense them to reaction or storage vessels while...