NaOH / Parsley Seed Oil..

[Bwiti]

Lets say someone mixed aqueous 5% NaOH with parsley seed oil.. Which layer will be the allylbenzenes?? Both are of about the same darkness..

[Barium]

The viscosity will easily reveal which layer is the aqueous and the organic. Watch where the aqueous solution goes when you mix the liquids. It shouldn't be that hard.

[hypo]

> Lets say someone mixed aqueous 5% NaOH with parsley seed oil..

why would you do that? this method seems pretty useless:

the non-propenylbenzene parts of parsley seed oil were added to
dil. NaOH in a testtube. the whole lot was shaken like crazy.
after few minutes two phases separated. => practically no purification.

[Bwiti]

"this method seems pretty useless"

  Well, the NaOH layer took on a dark color when mixed with the parsley seed oil, so some garbage must have been extracted from it.. It worked for me.
  Btw, I added a drop of the top layer to a test tube half-filled with dH2O.. The top layer's the substituted allylbenzenes.

[Lilienthal]

Like always if there are no halogens in the molecule...  

[hypo]

> Well, the NaOH layer took on a dark color when mixed

yes, in my experiment too. that means nothing. the layer
did not get significantly smaller. 49% or 50%, why bother?

(otoh, if it makes u happy - do what ever you want...)

[hypo]

and oxygen, sometimes, isn't it?

[bones]

so i deleted my post

[Aurelius]

Bwiti, they are right about the amount of impurities being removed.  It's very small, but it's ok.  however, the idea that the NaOH might cause some polymerization (with a little heat or if it sits overnight) makes me think that it's not the best idea.  Don't wash anything- distill first, then wash to help clean the final product.  Be sure to dry your product and then do a final distillation. 

if done correctly (and if you starting material was worth the money) you should get 98%+ purity.