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There is a mixture of aniline and phenol. I need to obtain (just the procedure) pure aniline.

So I think the mixture should heat with Zn powder(to convert phenol to benzene) and then I thought to synthesize aniline from benzene.

I am not sure about this method?

Please help me

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    $\begingroup$ This link should help you uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100910210700AACatO3 Good luck! $\endgroup$
    – Daniel AG
    Aug 10, 2014 at 16:43
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    $\begingroup$ Is the objective to remove the phenol from the mixture, or to convert phenol to aniline. It is fairly easy to purify the aniline from the mixture. $\endgroup$
    – LDC3
    Aug 10, 2014 at 16:57
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    $\begingroup$ I would try to dissolve the mixture in dichloromethane, then extract phenol with concentrated water solution of sodium hydroxide and finally precipitate aniline from ethanol or methanol with water. Even though working with sodium hydroxide requires goggles, you can care less about inhaling its fumes, unlike concentrated HCl. Re-synthesis is usually a very unvise choice even for moderately complex aromatics. $\endgroup$
    – permeakra
    Aug 11, 2014 at 7:28
  • $\begingroup$ are aniline and phenol soluble to each other? $\endgroup$
    – Gaurav
    Sep 12, 2022 at 11:53

2 Answers 2

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First dissolve phenol and aniline in diethyl ether and add excess HCl solution . Then aniline will react with HCl and dissolve in water layer. Easily remove organic layer.

Take the water layer and add excess NaOH to it and aniline will be precipitated.

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  • $\begingroup$ Use a solvent such a methylene chloride so aqueous layer need not be removed from funnel. Aniline and phenol are liquid and reasonably if not very soluble in water. $\endgroup$
    – jimchmst
    Sep 12, 2022 at 21:05
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Aniline is a base, phenol an acid. Add the mix to a sep funnel add either dilute HCl or dilute NaOH and mix well. Extract several times with small portions of methylene chloride [or chloroform] [bottom layer] You figure out which you have in the organic layer. Neutralize the aqueous solution and reverse the acidity. Extract the aqueous mess again with methylene chloride you have the other in this batch. Distill each organic batch separately. This should all be done in a hood with appropriate safety precautions. The order depends on circumstances. I would probably prefer that the final aqueous solution be acidic so I would extract the aniline first. The amounts concentrations etc. have to be carefully worked out.

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