Can someone suggest a way to depolymerize 3-hydroxy-2-butanone by distillation?
I expect it is polymerized as the polyketal. These are amenable to acid-catalyzed hydrolysis, so add a small amount of an acid (HCl should work - a drop or 2 should be enough for 100 grams or so of polymer) and water. The BP of the monomer is 148 C, but it forms an azeotrope with water - the composition of the azeotrope may suggest the proportion of water to use.
I expect it is polymerized as the polyketal. These are amenable to acid-catalyzed hydrolysis, so add a small amount of an acid (HCl should work - a drop or 2 should be enough for 100 grams or so of polymer) and water. The BP of the monomer is 148 C, but it forms an azeotrope with water - the composition of the azeotrope may suggest the proportion of water to use.
HI james, thank you. I didi it..it works well with refluxing HCl 3M. PTSA failed.
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