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Butyraldehyde: Butyl Alcohol Dehydrogenated over Copper Pellets at 400-680 °F (Hasche, Eastman, US 2,173,111)
Hot copper pulls two hydrogen atoms off butyl alcohol and leaves butyraldehyde. Hasche's catalyst is copper made from blown, water-quenched cuprous oxide, in dust-free pellets that can be burnt clean and reduced again when they tire.
Result: butyraldehyde, distilled off from the unchanged alcohol.
Source: Hasche, US 2,173,111 (Eastman Kodak, 1939), claims 6, 9 and 12. His worked run is for propyl alcohol; conversion for butanol is not given. Picture drawn by Youblob.
Advanced
1 day
Instructions
1
1
Pack the copper catalyst
Pack the copper catalyst
Fill a tube with dust-free copper pellets made from cuprous oxide blown from molten copper and quenched in water (2-5 mesh in claim 17).
Tools needed:
Copper Catalyst Pellets
Tube Furnace2
2
Preheat the butyl alcohol
Preheat the butyl alcohol
Vaporise and preheat the butyl alcohol to about 500-600 °F.
Materials for this step:
n-Butanol1 as requiredTools needed:
Tube Furnace3
3
Pass it over the copper at 400-680 °F
Pass it over the copper at 400-680 °F
Lead the hot vapour over the catalyst held at about 400-680 °F. It splits into butyraldehyde and hydrogen; part of the alcohol passes unchanged.
Tools needed:
Copper Catalyst PelletsTube Furnace
Condenser Coil4
4
Distil off the aldehyde
Distil off the aldehyde
Condense the products and distil: butyraldehyde comes over first (it boils near 74 °C); distil the alcohol back in the presence of alkali and return it.
Tools needed:
Fractionating Still
Sodium Hydroxide - 10% solution5
5
Reactivate the spent copper
Reactivate the spent copper
When the catalyst slows, flush it, oxidise it at about 600-800 °F, cool, and reduce it again with alcohol vapour at about 300-400 °F.
Tools needed:
Copper Catalyst PelletsTube FurnaceTools Required
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