[Ontario]

Greetings from Canada,

I am undertaking a project where I need to acetylate an alkaloid.

I will be using acetic anhydride but I ran into a problem.

In my research I found that the boiling point of the acetic anhydride is 139.8 °C (please correct me if I’m wrong about the temperature.)

In my research I found the flash point of the acetic anhydride is 53.9°C (please correct me if I’m wrong about the temperature)

Here is my dilemma, I know for a fact that the alkaloid I’m working with was boiled for two hours. 

How is that possible if the flashpoint is lower than the boiling point?

Any advice is much appreciated.

Lots of love from Canada 🇨🇦

[Borek]

Somehow I feel like you are mistaking flash point and autoignition temperature. They are two distinct things.