Miniscale Recrystallization Essay

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4. List the steps in the systematic procedure for miniscale recrystallization, briefly explaining the purpose of each step.
-Selection of solvent – The correct solvent must be selected to form a product of high purity and in good recovery. The solvent must fit some criteria. The desired compound should be soluble in the hot solvent but insoluble in the cold solvent. The impurities should be insoluble in all temperatures of the solvent or slightly soluble in a cold solvent. The boiling point of the solvent should be low enough to remove the crystals. The solvent should not react chemically with the solids that are being purified. The solvent needs to have a boiling point lower than the melting point of the solids.
-Dissolution – the mixture …show more content…

Add decolorizing carbon to remove the colored impurities.
-Hot Filtration – this separates the insoluble impurities from the soluble pure compound by pouring the solution through a hot filtration apparatus (filter).
-Formation (Recrystallization) – allows the hot solution to cool and begin to form crystals. For rapid cooling, an ice water bath can be used.
-Isolation – Using a vacuum filtration, the excess solvent will be removed from the crystals.
-Drying the crystals – the crystals will be transferred from the Buchner or Hirsch funnel in vacuum filtration to a watch glass. Cover the watch glass with a filter paper to protect from airborne contaminants. Drying the crystals will remove any last traces of solvent from the crystals.

5. In performing a hot filtration at the miniscale level, what might happen if the filter funnel is not preheated before the solution is poured through it?
The solution would start to cool and the dissolved pure compound might also cool down as it is being poured through the unheated filter. Ultimately, an unheated filter will leads to filtering out some of the pure …show more content…

The following solvent selection data [found on page 109] were collected for two different impure solids. Based on these results, what solvents or mixture of solvents might you consider using to recrystallize solids A and B? Explain.
For solid A, cyclohexane is the best solvent because when Solid A is dissolved in cyclohexane, a large amount of crystals of the pure compound can be separated. Based on the table, many crystals will form once cooling is done.
Since the solids should be insoluble when the solvent is cold and soluble when the solvent is hot, a mixture of solvents might be best for Solid B. However, based on the table, there does not seem to be an appropriate mixture to make the desired solvent. None of the available solvents will dissolves the solids when the solvent is hot.

23. The goal of the recrystallization procedure is to obtain purified material with a maximized recovery. For each of the items listed, explain why this goal would be adversely affected.
1. In the solution step, an unnecessarily large volume of solvent is used.
A large amount of the pure compound will still be dissolved in the solution.
2. The crystals obtained after filtration are not washed with fresh cold solvent before

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