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5.1: Overview of Distillation

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    95708
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    Several distillation variations are used in the organic laboratory depending on the properties of the mixture to be purified. The apparatus in Figure 5.1 is used to perform a simple distillation and is used if the components have widely different boiling points (greater than a 100 °C difference in boiling points). If a simple distillation is attempted on a mixture where the components have more similar boiling points (less than a 100 °C difference in boiling points), it will fail to purify the mixture completely. Instead, fractional distillation can be used to improve the chances of purification. Vacuum distillation may be used when the boiling points of the mixture's components are very high (>150 °C), or steam distillation if the components are very water insoluble. The distillation variations are summarized in Table 5.1, and are discussed in detail in this chapter.

     Distillation apparatus. A flask is connected to a vertical tube, with flows into a condenser, a tube that leads down and away from the vertical tube, ending in another flask. Two outlet hoses attach to the bottom of the condenser.Vacuum distillation apparatus. A flask is connected to a long vertical condenser. The first condenser flows into a second condenser ending in another flask. Two outlet hoses attach to the bottom of the second condenser.

    Contributors and Attributions

    • Lisa Nichols (Butte Community College). Organic Chemistry Laboratory Techniques is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Complete text is available online.

     


    This page titled 5.1: Overview of Distillation is shared under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Lisa Nichols via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.

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