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Synthesizing Nitroethane from Ethanol: A Step-by-Step Chemical Process

• 0:00:04 Safety Precautions: The video begins with crucial safety warnings: sulfuric acid is corrosive, and ethanol is flammable. The process should not be attempted at home.

• 0:00:10 Initial Reactants: The synthesis starts with 125 mL of anhydrous ethanol and 70 mL of sulfuric acid.

• 0:00:18 Sodium Ethyl Sulfate Preparation: The first step involves creating sodium ethyl sulfate by forming ethyl sulfonic acid from the reaction of ethanol and sulfuric acid.

• 0:00:28 Exothermic Reaction: The mixing of sulfuric acid and ethanol is highly exothermic, causing the ethanol to boil. A slow, controlled addition with swirling is used, though cooling the mixtures beforehand is recommended.

• 0:01:27 Reaction Heating: The mixture is heated to 80-90°C, with stirring, for one hour to prevent the formation of diethyl ether or ethylene gas. Mechanical stirring is used due to the lack of a stir bar.

• 0:01:58 Neutralization: After heating, the solution is neutralized with an excess of calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate is chosen because calcium ethyl sulfate is water-soluble, while calcium sulfate is not, allowing for separation.

• 0:02:50 pH Adjustment: A significant amount of calcium carbonate is required to reach a neutral pH.

• 0:03:06 Filtration: The neutralized mixture is filtered to remove the insoluble calcium sulfate. The video creator notes difficulties in filtering, requiring multiple filtrations.

• 0:03:18 Metathesis Reaction. A sodium carbonate solution is used in a reaction with the calcium ethyl sulfate in a double displacement metathesis reaction, forming sodium ethyl sulfate.

• 0:03:53 Precipitation and Filtration: The resulting mixture, containing precipitated calcium carbonate, is filtered. Boiling is recommended to help coagulate the fine precipitate.

• 0:04:07 Washing and Concentration: The calcium carbonate filter cake is washed, and the filtrate is boiled down until crystals begin to form.

• 0:04:28 Drying: The resulting powder (sodium ethyl sulfate) is crushed and dried at 100°C for about an hour to remove residual moisture and deal with clumping caused by remaining calcium carbonate.

• 0:04:50 Final Powder: 81.5 grams of sodium ethyl sulfate powder are obtained.

• 0:04:58 Main Reaction Setup: The sodium ethyl sulfate is mixed with 60g of sodium nitrite and 5g of sodium carbonate (catalyst) in a four-neck round-bottom flask.

• 0:05:24 Distillation: The apparatus is set up for water addition, temperature monitoring, stirring, and distillation. Water is added to form a slurry, and the mixture is heated to 110-120°C to distill off the product.

• 0:05:45 Foaming Issues: Foaming occurs during distillation, requiring adjustments to the apparatus (using a Claisen adapter). An anti-foaming agent like acetyl alcohol could be used, but the creator improvises.

• 0:06:13 Distillate Collection: A slightly yellow, irritating-smelling distillate is collected.

• 0:06:25 Completion Indication: The end of the distillation is indicated by a change in the mixture in the flask.

• 0:06:33 Separation: The distillate is transferred to a separatory funnel to separate the orange nitroethane layer from the aqueous layer.

• 0:06:56 Salting Out and Extraction: The aqueous layer is saturated with salt, and the nitroethane is extracted using diethyl ether.

• 0:07:36 Diethyl Ether layer. The diethyl ether layer is separated.

• 0:07:44 Drying and Ether Removal: The combined nitroethane and ether layers are dried (with calcium chloride, which the creator criticizes, recommending magnesium sulfate instead). The ether is then distilled off.

• 0:08:34 Vacuum Distillation: Nitroethane is vacuum distilled due to limitations of the creator's heating mantle.

• 0:09:06 Final Product: The final nitroethane product, though still slightly impure (with a burnt smell), is collected.

• 0:09:38 Ether Recovery. Diethyl ether is recovered.

• 0:09:46 Activated Charcoal Cleanup: The creator suggests cleaning up with activated charcoal before attempting to dry the recovered ether with sodium, highlighting potential dangers of nitromethane reacting violently with sodium hydroxide. The analogous reaction between sodium and nitroethane is described as "sketchy", implying concern.