Question

Explain why you chose your recrystallization solvent. What properties did this solvent have that made it the best for recrystallization?

Answer 1

Ans-

The most common method of purifying solid organic compounds is by recrystallization. In this technique, an impure solid compound is dissolved in a solvent and then allowed to slowly crystallize out as the solution cools. As the compound crystallizes from the solution, the molecules of the other compounds dissolved in solution are excluded from the growing crystal lattice, giving a pure solid.

Crystallization of a solid is not the same as precipitation of a solid. In crystallization, there is a slow, selective formation of the crystal framework resulting in a pure compound. In precipitation, there is a rapid formation of a solid from a solution that usually produces an amorphous solid containing many trapped impurities within the solid's crystal framework. For this reason, experimental procedures that produce a solid product by precipitation always include a final recrystallization step to give the pure compound.

The process of recrystallization relies on the property that for most compounds, as the temperature of a solvent increases, the solubility of the compound in that solvent also increases. For example, much more table sugar can be dissolved in very hot water (just below the boiling point) than in water at room temperature. What will happen if a concentrated solution of hot water and sugar is allowed to cool to room temperature? As the temperature of the solution decreases, the solubility of the sugar in the water also decreases, and the sugar molecules will begin to crystallize out of the solution. This is the basic process that goes on in the recrystallization of a solid.

important properties-

The first consideration in purifying a solid by recrystallization is to find a suitable solvent. There are four important properties that you should look for in a good solvent for recrystallization.

1. The compound should be very soluble at the boiling point of the solvent and only sparingly soluble in the solvent at room temperature. This difference in solubility at hot versus cold temperatures is essential for the recrystallization process. If the compound is insoluble in the chosen solvent at high temperatures, then it will not dissolve. If the compound is very soluble in the solvent at room temperature, then getting the compound to crystallize in pure form from solution is difficult. For example, water is an excellent solvent for the recrystallization of benzoic acid. At 10°C only 2.1 g of benzoic acid dissolves in 1 liter of water, while at 95 °C the solubility is 68 g/L.
2. The unwanted impurities should be either very soluble in the solvent at room temperature or insoluble in the hot solvent. This way, after the impure solid is dissolved in the hot solvent, any undissolved impurities can be removed by filtration. After the solution cools and the desired compound crystallizes out, any remaining soluble impurities will remain dissolved in the solvent.
3. The solvent should not react with the compound being purified. The desired compound may be lost during recrystallization if the solvent reacts with the compound.
4. The solvent should be volatile enough to be easily removed from the solvent after the compound has crystallized. This allows for easy and rapid drying of the solid compound after it has been isolated from the solution.

Finding a solvent with the desired properties is a search done by trial and error. First, test the solubility of tiny samples of the compound in test tubes with a variety of different solvents (water, ethanol, methanol, ethyl acetate, diethyl ether, hexane, toluene, etc.) at room temperature. If the compound dissolves in the solvent at room temperature, then that solvent is unsuitable for recrystallization. If the compound is insoluble in the solvent at room temperature, then the mixture is heated to the solvent's boiling point to determine if the solid will dissolve at high temperature, and then cooled to see whether it crystallizes from the solution at room temperature.