When I place a chunk of 99,99% pure sodium metal in a beaker of (100% chemically pure) acetone, the sodium metal starts reacting and dissolving into the acetone and it forms a yellow/brown liquid. When the acetone evaporates it leaves a dark-brown goo that is like a gel. And it smells like tar or something similar. What is this substance?
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1$\begingroup$ related chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/6527/… $\endgroup$ – Mithoron Sep 13 '17 at 23:27
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3$\begingroup$ Brown goo is the ultimate product of any organic reaction. Some reactions happen to produce something useful besides it, some don't. $\endgroup$ – Ivan Neretin Sep 14 '17 at 5:11
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I can suggest only two possibilities:
Your acetone or sodium are not pure. Acetone contains water, or something.
Sodium might react like magnesium does, though it required different conditions. That's possible, but maybe you just discovered a new reaction or had some weird impurities that served as a catalyst.
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$\begingroup$ Self-condensation of the acetone catalysed by NaOH (formed from trace water) is also a possibility $\endgroup$ – Waylander Sep 14 '17 at 22:09
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$\begingroup$ I'm not sure if its concentration would be sufficient to cause this rapid condensation $\endgroup$ – MEL Science Sep 15 '17 at 7:38
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