CHEMISTRY · Single correct · A Level · Chemistry · Chromatography · Chromatography
Problem
A chemist must recover pure acetone (bp 56∘C), pure hexane (bp 69∘C), and anhydrous CuSO4⋅5H2O crystals from a heterogeneous mixture containing all three substances. Energy use must be minimized, and each component must be isolated in high purity. Which sequence of operations is MOST appropriate?
(a) Begin with fractional distillation of the entire mixture, collect the acetone fraction, then filter to obtain CuSO4⋅5H2O, and finally redistill the remaining liquid to yield hexane.
(b) Filter the mixture to remove CuSO4⋅5H2O, then perform simple distillation on the filtrate to separate acetone from hexane.
(c) Filter the mixture to collect CuSO4⋅5H2O, then carry out fractional distillation on the filtrate to obtain acetone and hexane.
(d) Pass the liquid portion of the mixture through a chromatography column to separate acetone and hexane, then filter the column effluent to recover CuSO4⋅5H2O.