Making triethyl phosphate

 This is something I tried out a while ago.

Triethyl phosphate is a colourless liquid occasionally used as a solvent in the lab. Its formula is C6H15O4 I don't really have any use for it but I just made some for fun.

REAGENTS:

• ethanol
• phosphoric acid
• conc hydrochloric acid
• water

EQUIPMENT:

• large RBF flask 
• liebig condenser
• retort stand
• clamps x2
• aluminium foil
• rubber band
• litmus paper
• keck clip

 METHOD
This method uses esterification with conc hydrochloric acid as a catalyst. I started by preparing a reflux setup using the liebig condenser, retort stand, clamps, RBF flask, keck clip and sealed the top with aluminium foil and a rubber band.

To the RBF flask I added water, ethanol, phosphoric acid, conc hydrochloric acid. I refluxed  for 1-2 hours then poured the mixture into a beaker. Under the beaker I placed a hotplate and simmered the mixture down. Once the mixture stopped releasing lots of bubbles I collected it. It had a very strong cidery smell, so I believe it's triethyl phosphate.
                        
 3 C2H5OH + H3PO4 ==> (C2H5)3PO4 + 3 H2O       
                                          

               

INTRO

Hi my name's gluon and I'm an amateur chemist. I want to keep a record of all the stuff I've done so I figured I'd make a blog. It's mostly organic chemistry stuff but not entirely.