Chemical Forums
Chemistry Forums for Students => Organic Chemistry Forum => Topic started by: Alexthimphu on October 15, 2010, 10:37:23 AM
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Hi. There is a problem. The essential oil is diluted in DMSO. Is it possible to clear it with hexane? Hexane is used to extract oils. I added some hexane to DMSO and received two layers. The top layer is hexan and the bottom one is DMSO which became muddy. In a few hours the muddy bottom layer starts to clear from the bottom. Maybe it's because of essential oil moving up to hexane? I also read that oils became less soluble in DMSO if DMSO is mixed with water. The more water the less solubility of oils in DMSO. So I mixed everything with water. And again there were two layers, the top of hexane, the muddy bottom one of DMSO with water which also started to clear from the bottom. But there was also a very thin muddy layer above hexane. No idea what is that.
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Just add water and you can extract with hexane. I would suggest ether or ethyl acetate for extraction instead of hexane (but hexane should be ok too). Wash the combined organic layers two times with water (to remove traces of water left in the organic solvent). Then dry with for instance magnesium sulfate and evaporate the solvent and you will have your essential oil.
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Thank you. But is ethyl acetate insoluble in DMSO and water? I thought about pertrolium ether. What if to add some strong solution of something like NaCl? Will it extrude the oil?