Post reaction replacement of Toluene with Xylene

aaa · Wed Jun 08, 2005 5:23 pm

I understand from my research that this is possible, could someone please confirm/deny?

Appreciations

loki · guinea pig

xylene and toluene are virtually identical with regard to their solvency. one smells worse than the other... i know what i prefer.

maybe you don't realise that xylene is actually a bit more expensive than toluene? If you can't get toluene you probably are looking in the wrong place for it.

aaa · Wed Jun 08, 2005 6:47 pm

actually the stuff is "Xylol"

Toluene has been the only substance difficult to acquire in this country, lab grade red phos/iodine were so easy.

If one were to have both tolyol & xylol would there be any way to process them and improve their quality?

loki · guinea pig

if the reaction is the one that your other acquisitions would indicate, then there is no need to improve their quality. you could use naptha, albeit at 2-4x volumes, in the same way as toluene or xylene. aromatics are just the best, cheap solvent to use. you could use an ether to extract with too, diethyl ether, for example.

i don't know if this will help you or not, but at least around here, toluene can be bought as a fuel additive to improve octane ratings, drag racers and the like use it. it eats the fuel system faster, but makes the engine run noticably better. It's not sold at specialty car stores or petrol stations, but is easy to pick up at the petroleum distributors. Cheapest way to get it in fact.

zub · Wed Jun 08, 2005 8:28 pm

quantities of non-polar solvents for a/b workup; post rxn, are pretty freaking small, unless one is planning to be the new 'king-pin". cost seems pretty irrelevant. amount of water held by a np solvent may be more relevant. drying the solvents with mgso4 and the like is somewhat silly if you're going to end up splashing it around w/ h20 in a sep funnel. toluene is less otc in the u.s. than it used to be, partly because it's fairly carcinogenic.

its good that these solvents smell so shitty. it reminds us not to inhale their vapors.
i wish they smelled worse.
methanol is particularly heineous, imho, because of its lack of stench, coupled with its brain destroying aspects.

bee careful, young bucks.

twodogs · Mon Jun 13, 2005 5:55 pm

If you are talking about gassing..yes xylene works great

geezmeister · Busy Bee

For the synth you have interest in, many prefer xylene to tolulene. Smell is the principal objection. Xylene can be used from the can without drying for this use.