Author Topic: How can I tell my formic acid conc.?  (Read 6185 times)

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kuykur

  • Guest
How can I tell my formic acid conc.?
« on: October 10, 2004, 08:33:00 AM »
I got a bottle of formic acid recently, but there's no sign on the label about the purity/concentration of it.
How can I tell more or less accurately with a simple method? And if it happends to be too dilluted, can I just boil it to get to the 85% needed for the performic oxidation of isosafrole?

Nicodem

  • Guest
Density->Concentration
« Reply #1 on: October 10, 2004, 11:12:00 AM »
Get yourself an aerometer and mesure the density of the formic acid. That's the easiest and fasted method to measure the concentration of most solvents.


hypo

  • Guest
titration
« Reply #2 on: October 10, 2004, 11:12:00 AM »
> How can I tell more or less accurately with a simple method?

titration of a diluted sample - get a burette and a graduated flask.
formic acid is usually titrated against KMnO4, but if you can't get
that, then titration against a strong base will work too.

> can I just boil it to get to the 85%

no - bp of formic acid is 100.7°C! you could have found that out yourself,
lazy bastard!


Rhodium

  • Guest
Formic Acid Density/Concentration Table
« Reply #3 on: October 11, 2004, 01:00:00 AM »