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Polar Solvent Question0

ebola?

ebola?

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Polar Solvent Question

Hello all. This isn't entirely appropriate for ADD, but I think you guys would come the closest to knowing the answer.
I would like to obtain a concentrated isopropanol solution (90 to 99 percent) that would evaporate away entirely. Are these standard, or should I go with 95 percent ethanol to be on the safe side?

ebola
 
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I'm afraid, without knowing what it's for, it's difficult to say. (Don't say!)
 
IPA is usually the choice solvent over ethanol but if you're going to be using it to extract something you plan on ingesting and are concerned there may still be some leftover IPA in your product (not likely if you evaporate fully) you are going to have a clear head if you just use ethanol.

Just know you can use the IPA safely though...

BTW what is this for? there are much better organic polar solvents available than IPA, you can use acetone for one, this evaporates much faster than ethanol and IPA.

Its tough to say without you specifying what you are planning on doing.
 
^ pm somebody and ask? ;)

Personally, I have no worries about IPA, the small amount that may be left in whatevery you may be doing isn't enough to raise health concerns. Whether I'm considered an idiot for that, I don't know.
 
Would it be against the rules to narrow it down a bit by saying what he isn't making?
 
IPA is only moderately more toxic than ethanol (which humans tend to consume in quite hefty amounts). The use of IPA is in other words perfectly safe unless it contains non-volatile toxic additives (but pure IPA should be avaiblie more or less everywhere).
 
Well yeah IPA will be metabolized to acetone, which in all honesty really isn't going to harm you in the quantities it might involve if it was a tiny leftover in the final product. Besides, if you used acetone AS the solvent, you're faced with the same issue - you just skip a metabolic step!
 
>>Personally, I have no worries about IPA, the small amount that may be left in whatevery you may be doing isn't enough to raise health concerns. Whether I'm considered an idiot for that, I don't know.>>

My concern, here, is picking up impure IPA (from a drugstore), where there are impurities other than water and IPA that DONT evaporate out.

ebola
 
Place a drop or two on a clear piece of glass and evaporate to see if it leaves any residues. I wouldn't worry too much. Street drugs probably have lower purity with more harmful additives than any supposedly pure (just check on the bottle to see if it's the only listed ingredient) hIPA found at a drugstore.
 
^^^^ And that's as pure as it will get unless special methods are employed, as IPA/H2O typically form a constant-boiling azeotrope (87.8/12.2 percent).

My guess is you're going for anhydrous conditions and trust me, these are difficult to achieve and maintain since water is fucking everywhere and gets in everything, especially the places you don't want it to be...=D
 
Just looking for a polar solvent that is cheap and that will evaporate cleanly and quickly. It looks like it will be 90 percent IPA from the drugstore FTW. :)

ebola
 
^^^^ You're right, I'm wrong. I was thinking along the lines of distillation. To further dehydrate IPA, the "special methods" I claimed really aren't so special...lol...

Dessicants--one method is NaCl, which eddie pointed out--will dehydrate it to 99%.
 
er...yes. ;)
in this case, it is the simple extraction of a polar molecule from plant matter, where I can't be arsed to go through the A/B steps.

ebola
 
^^^^ As Acyl said, you should be able to buy it at 99% pre-dessicated with dessicant filtered out and ready-to-use "for research and educational" purposes only, of course.
 
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