Acetone

Properties

Acetone is one of the most important organic solvents employed in the chemical industry. It is a solvent (alone or in mixtures) for various explosives (e.g. nitrocellulose), celluloid, acetyl-cellulose, acetylene, as well as for tannin fats, and resins. Acetone is also used in the synthesis of many organic compounds (e.g. chloroform, sulphonal, etc.). Acetone-bisulphite is used in certain photographic developers. When reduced, acetone is converted into a mixture of isopropyl alcohol and pinacone. Dehydrating agents convert it into mesityl oxide and phorone.

Acetone is a mobile colourless hygroscopic liquid, miscible in all proportions with water, ethyl alcohol, ethyl and amyl acetates, ether and chloroform. It can be separated from aqueous solution by calcium chloride. Acetone gives a crystalline compound with sodium iodide (Nal, 3C3H60). By means of this compound acetone may be readily purified (Shipsey and Werner).1

The density of pure acetone as recorded by recent workers is:0.79123 20o/4° Reillv and Ralph.2 0.79082 20°/4° Price.3 0.7912 20°/4° Bramley.4

Its coefficient of expansion is 0.0016. Boiling point . . 56.2° to 56.3/760°-Approximate change of b.p. for 1 mm. change of pressure 0.03° C. Melting point . . -94.9° Critical temperature 232.6° 5 Critical pressure . 52.2 atm.5 The vapour pressure of acetone at various temperatures is given in Table 96.

The viscosity of acetone at 50° (n) = .00245, c.g.s. The refractive index at 15° uD =1.360.

Palmer6 gives the following values for the Refractive Index of Acetone for the C and F hydrogen lines :Hydrogen C . 1 .35633 Hydrogen F . 1 .36296

1 Trans. Chem. Soc, 1913, 103, 1255. 2 Sci. Proc. R. Dublin Soc, 1919, 15, 598.

3 Trans. Chem. Soc, 1919, 115, 1125. 4 Trans. Chem. Soc., 1916, 109, 455.

5 Lecat, V Azeotropisme. 6 Palmer, Analyst, 1920, 45, 302.

Table 96

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1 Landolt and Bornstein's Tables. (An interpolation formula for vapour pressures of acetone calculated from Regnault's results is given by Ramsay and Young (Physico-Chemical Tables, John Castell Evans. Vol. i. p. 512).

2 J. Amer. Chem. Soc, 1918, 40, 1482. 3 J. Physical Chem., 1900, 4, 436.

4 Trans. Chem. Soc., 1919, 115, 1125. 5 J. Indian Inst. Sci., 1919, 2, Part V. 55.

Table 97 shows the propagation of flame limits obtained by White and Price 1 for acetone-air mixtures using various iron and glass tubes at 20° ± 2° C.