[Cheese_Burgers]

Do i have to use K2CO3, or would magnesium sulfate, sodium bicarbonate, or Nacl, or a combination of the three work too? I realize that distillation is more practical but i dont have any glassware atm.

thanks

[Borek]

You can't salt out ethanol from water solutions.

[408]

Actually, you can!  http://chemeducator.org/sbibs/samples/spapers/11smi897.htm

I have not done this with ethanol, but to concentrate 70% IPA, you can add lots of salt and I have done this.  Similarly, when doing reactions in acetonitrile/water, instead of extracting the mix with an organic solvent, sometimes I just add a shitton of salt and salt out the acetonitrile, which takes all the organics with it. 

[Borek]

That's something new to me. I bet that means there are some other reasons why this is not done, as if it was easy to do it would be a popular method throughout the world. Everyone knowns how to make a Moonshine, everyone knows how to freeze out water (well, at least in northern parts of the globe), but I have never heard about salting out.

Perhaps it would work only for much more concentrated alcohol? In which case I wonder if it still classifies as salting out, as not as dessication.

Or perhaps that's a nomenclature problem? For me salting out is a procedure carried out with colloids (which coagulate in the presence of salts).

[408]

Vodka is what? 40% alcohol?  The only requirement is that you need to completely saturate the aqueous, so on a dilute mixture, you would need to add far more salt.  I have salted out acetonitrile when it is less than 40% in water...

I know nothing of colloids so I did not know "salting out" was a term used in that field, this seems to be a nomenclature issue. 

[curiouscat]

For me salting out is a procedure carried out with colloids (which coagulate in the presence of salts).

Ha! And I always thought it was used for procedures exploiting the common ion effect.

[408]

https://www.sciencemadness.org/whisper/viewthread.php?tid=24299

[Borek]

Thanks.

OK, I believe I understand why it is not widely used - NaCl doesn't work, and K₂CO₃ (or KF) are definitely not that cheap nor that easily available.

[billnotgatez]

Also at the end do you not dispose of everything but the ethanol