How can I get relatively pure toluene aka methylbenzene as a home chemist? I guess I *could* distill lacquer thinner and get some impure toluene that way, but I would prefer a more pure product. I need it for its use as a solvent, so could I just use lacquer thinner?
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Isolating toluene from lacquer thinner is too complicated. You didn't state your exact purpose, but it's possible that plain lacquer thinner might work..... It just depends on what you're doing.
If lacquer thinner is not adequate and you can't get toluene, consider xylene (dimethyl benzene). It is similar in most ways and can be bought in the paint department of any major hardware and building materials supplier, at least in the USA. It's available in quarts and gallons.
If lacquer thinner is not adequate and you can't get toluene, consider xylene (dimethyl benzene). It is similar in most ways and can be bought in the paint department of any major hardware and building materials supplier, at least in the USA. It's available in quarts and gallons.
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I use a closer company that's only available in my region. But if they don't carry that chemical, I would special order it from this company:
http://www.sciencelab.com/
They should have Toluene, it's pretty common :)
http://www.sciencelab.com/
They should have Toluene, it's pretty common :)