I have a paint thinner that contains 60% toluene and 40% acetone. I would like to obtain some more-or-less pure toluene. Considering the big difference in boiling points (110°C toluene vs 56°C acetone), and because I only need the toluene and not the acetone, I just tried to pour the paint thinner in a pot and put it on the outside stove.
What I expected to happen, based on my small understanding of chemistry, was that the temperature would rise until 56°C where it would stay for a while and bubble off all the acetone, and then to stop bubbling and the temperature to increase until 110°C where it would start to bubble again.
However what really happened was that both the temperature never stopped rising and the liquid never really stopped bubbling once it had started (although it slowed down to some degree after the first 30 seconds or so). When I only had like 20% of the original amount left, I accepted I have no idea what I'm doing and took the pot off the stove.
...and now I'm here, asking for advice from people who know better than me. Does this whole procedure even make sense? And if yes, how should I approach it? Maybe try to keep the temperature precisely on a certain level?