9.2: Simple Distillation
- Page ID
- 536808
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Simple distillation is an excellent purification tool for many liquids, and can be used to purify products from a chemical reaction. The series of photos below show the distillation of a crude sample of isoamyl acetate, formed through a Fischer esterification reaction. The crude sample was originally yellow, but the distillate was colorless, making obvious the removal of some materials through the process.
A simple distillation works well to purify certain mixtures, specifically to separate a liquid from non-volatile impurities (e.g. solids or salts), or from small amounts of significantly higher or lower boiling impurities. A general guideline is that a simple distillation is capable of separating components if the difference in boiling point of the components is greater than 100oC. A simple distillation does not work well to purify a mixture that contains components with similar boiling points (when the difference in b.p. is <100oC).
Adapted from Uses of Simple Distillation and Separation Theory by Lisa Nichols.