Ethyl Chloride: Hydrogen Chloride into Boiling Alcohol over Zinc Chloride (Groves 1874)

Pass hydrogen chloride gas into a boiling solution of zinc chloride in alcohol and nearly every bubble turns into ethyl chloride, until the alcohol is used up. Groves found this in 1874: 'a kilogram ... can readily be prepared in a few hours'. Result: ethyl chloride vapour, so pure that a rod dipped in ammonia held in it gives no cloud of hydrochloric acid. It boils at about 12.5 °C (Thorpe 1912), so keep it cold or under pressure. Source: Groves, J. Chem. Soc. 27 (1874), pp. 636-638. Not given: how the ethyl chloride is collected. Danger: hydrogen chloride gas burns eyes and lungs; ethyl chloride is very flammable. Picture drawn by Youblob.