The Vespiary
The Hive => Methods Discourse => Topic started by: tecnetium on September 11, 2001, 02:20:00 AM
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Hi bees have a look at this reaction swim found in one of her textbooks:
50% NaOH
2HCHO -----------> CH3OH + HCOO-Na+
Plain old formaldehyde can be used to make MeOH (a handy solvent) and sodium formate.
Clean up - Distill off MeOH (bp 65 C). Then distill off all the water. Then acidify with H2SO4 and distill off the formic acid (bp 100.5 C). Any comments?
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The H2SO4 could oxidise the formic
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Maybe acidify with hydrochloric acid and boil off the azeotrope (which, btw has a higher BP than water or formic acid)?
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Exactly, acidify just until neutral with HCl, and distill off the azeotrope (22.5% formic acid, 77.5% water) with a boiling point of 107.1°C (higher than that of formic acid, 100.8° C or water, 100°C). Make sure enough water is present, and collect the 105-110°C fraction.
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It's a simple dismutation....
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I take it 22% HCOOH can be used in a performic?
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I'd suggest distillation of it first to achieve the above mentioned azeotrope. 22% seems a little bit low, but maybe it still would work with good agitation of the reaction.