Ketene: Acetone Vapour over Hot Porous Earthenware (Schmidlin and Bergman 1910)

Ketene, H2C:CO. Schmidlin and Bergman made it by passing acetone vapour through a hard glass tube packed with porous earthenware at 500-600 °C, with a yield of 14 %. It is a liquid only below -56 °C, smells very penetrating, and its vapour attacks the mucous membranes. Source: Thorpe, Dictionary of Applied Chemistry vol. 3 (1912), Ketenes. Unknown: how the ketene is caught from the gas stream, and the flow rate. Thorpe gives neither, so they are linked to unknown heads. Fume hood and respirator are ours. Picture drawn by Youblob.