Melvin

I believe that any ethanol concentration above 40% will burn, so 95% is great for burning. (96% is actually the max that can be created by normal distillation). And it still should have a low enough melting point to be used with dry ice.

One thing I've really wondered about is whether electrolysis can be used to replace halogens with hydrogens. I've seen references to it on other forums and websites: http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=11450 It is mentioned from the sixth post onward. http://81.207.88.128/science/chem/exps/precision_electrolysis/index_acetate.html This is a little different, in the case of the acetate being converted to ethane.

Very interesting infro on the aluminum isopropylate So, you're saying that acetaldehyde can oxidize itself to acetate, while simultaneously being reduced to ethanol? That seems very strange to me

Well, the copper(II) sulfate would react with sodium hydroxide in solution; this gives insoluble copper(II) hydroxide and leaves sodium sulfate in solution. I'm not really sure about the gas, though...

You mean silver oxide? That's what the reaction says, not silver chloride Wouldn't the ethanol and acetic acid react to form ethyl acetate?

Hmm...what about compounds with multiple halogen groups attached? Can more than one magnesium be attached to one molecule? Hmm...so if the compound has both hydroxyl groups and halogen groups, you would have to use the other methods you mentioned (LiAlH4, dehydrohalogenation and Pd/C, etc.)?

Hmm...interesting...thank you both for your responses. Fswd, would a strong base (like NaOH) be able to replace chlorine with hydroxide? Also, just for curiosity's sake, would electrolysis be able to reduce alkyl halides as well?

I'm new to organic chemistry, so bear with me here... Say you had a halogenated organic compound; how would you replace the halogen with hydrogen?

Ca(OH)2 is not very soluble in water but it is much more soluble than CaCO3, so it does work Believe me, I've done it before

Hmm...what about in aqueous solution? I suppose getting the hydrogen to react before it bubbles out would be difficult...

You could always make it from slaked lime and soda ash: Ca(OH)2 + Na2CO3 --> 2NaOH + CaCO3

Hmm...copper is below hydrogen in the activity series, right? Would hydrogen react with copper salts (like sulfate) to form the corresponding acid?

You're on the right track with the electrolysis; I make all my Cu(OH)2 like that. You really don't need voltage that high; I use a 9v "wall-wart" power supply for this. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that the magnesium sulfate only is used to increase the conductivity of the solution, and doesn't play a role in the reaction. The most important part is to use a copper anode; the cathode could be almost any metal. I believe the combined reaction is as follows: Cu + 2H2O --> H2 + Cu(OH)2

The flash point of ethanol is around 13C (from what I remember), but it's less than 50% ethanol in iodine tincture. However, if you keep all ignition sources away from it when it's boiling, you shouldn't have any problems. Hell, you could even just burn off the alcohol and leave everything else behind. Also, keep in mind that chlorine is more reactive than iodine, so therefore it's more likely to halogenate the alcohol than iodine is.

Actually there is more sodium/potassium iodide in iodine tincture than there is iodine. I have a bottle in front of me now, and it is 2% iodine, 2.4% sodium iodide, 47% alcohol, and the rest is water. I suppose you could boil away the alcohol/water (although that would waste the 2% iodine) and you would be left with sodium iodide. If you really were desperate, you could try getting some from iodized salt, although a normal size container (13oz or so) contains only about 2g of KI. EDIT: You could also buy KI online, but it is far from cheap. I found 200g on eBay for US $9.50, but that was 99.99% pure. With more searching, you could probably find it cheaper.

All halogens and interhalogens are highly corrosive and can cause serious damage if you breathe them. You probably only inhaled a very small concentration...

It would probably be easier just to seperate out the iodides out and then oxidize them with HCl and peroxide; no need to set up a gas generator Like YT said...mixing chlorine and alcohol (in the tincture) could be bad...

For sulfate and phosphate, just use a soluble calcium salt (like calcium chloride). Calcium sulfate and phosphate are both insoluble in water. For chloride, you could always use electrolysis...any chloride in solution would become chlorine gas at the anode. Hope this helps some!

Yes, the hydroxide ions are destroyed.

dom3mo, the hydroxide is an intermediate. When you electrolyze salt water these reactions occur first: Cathode: 2H2O + 2e- --> 2OH- + H2 Anode: 2Cl- --> Cl2 + 2e- After this, there are Na+ ions and OH- ions, which represent sodium hydroxide in solution. When the chlorine gas mixes with the NaOH, you get hypochlorite, choride, and water: 2NaOH + Cl2 --> NaOCl + NaCl + H2O The NaOCl readily decomposes into chlorate and chloride: 3NaOCl --> NaClO3 + 2NaCl Does this clear things up a little?

I've seen sodium sulfite at my local pool store.

To go to NaClO3, the reaction is: NaCl + 3H2O --> NaClO3 + 3H2 You also need to add a small amount of potassium dichromate to prevent back reduction. Platinum is the best choice for electrodes, but graphite or gold should work as well. EDIT: Watch out for potassium dichromate as it contains hexavalent chromium (carcinogenic).

Actually, the nitric will be regenerated because the SO2 + HNO3 reaction gives off NO as well, which can be mixed with oxygen and bubbled into water. The thread on scimad is http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=2824 Page two is where the idea is mentioned.

According to sciencemadness, it will create H2SO4 and NO as a byproduct. I'm just testing it on a small scale. 3SO2 + 2HNO3 + 2H2O --> 3H2SO4 + 2NO

I have an experiment that involves bubbling sulfur dioxide through ~40% nitric acid. Would silicone rubber tubes (from an aquarium store) be able to handle the nitric acid or would I need glass?