Reflux
- Page ID
- 2041
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So, you need to drive a chemical reaction by heating it at reflux. You will need to heat the reaction at the boiling point of your solvent(s) and fit a reflux condenser to the RBF. The condenser has cold water flowing through it; the solvent which has evaporated from the reaction will condense on the surface of the condenser and drip back down into the reaction, thus preventing your reaction from drying out.
- Make sure all of your glassware is clean. Rinse with water and acetone at the very least; even small amounts of impurities can act as catalysts that can drive other reactions different from your desired reaction and lower your yield.
- Clamp your round-bottom flask on your heating pad and stirrer. Make sure your stir bar is in the round-bottom before you add liquid. If you are not using a stir bar, add boiling stones. You may also use a teflon sleave at the junction of the RBF and the condenser to prevent the ground glass joints from fusing together.
- Set the reflux condenser in the round bottom.
- Start heating your reaction. Gradually increase the temperature until the solvent boils. Some heating mantles take quite a while to heat up.