[avalon]

Hello. I need to make 100% pure ethanol solvent and unfortunately due to my country stupid so called alcohol "prohibition" politics any alcohol above 79% vol. requires special permission, only companies can buy and has ridiculous cost. I was lucky to find 99% ethanol with just added 1% methylethylketone in art store.
Since methylethylketone boils at almost same temperature 80°C (78.37°C) distillation probably wouldn't work unlike for denatonium benzoate.
Maybe chemists out here can suggest some other way to separate this nasty stuff?

[chenbeier]

They used this compound that it is not possible to seperate.  It has an azeoptrop and is not possible to seperate by destillation. And industrial alcohol should not used for making drinks.
Of course ketons can be changed in other compunds, but this would poison your alcohol more and increase the costs.

[wildfyr]

It's not worth it. I promise.

[avalon]

It's not for recreational use. I need it for herbal and chaga compound extraction which dissolve in not many solvents and ethanol is only known to be least toxic. 100% ethanol would be ideal since it gets diluted with water during extraction process.

[wildfyr]

Are the extracts dried at the end of the process? If so the 1% MEK will evaporate.

[avalon]

I want to astragaloside iv and cycloastragenol in astragalus to be bioavailable. Since these compounds are not water soluble I need to keep root in ethanol to be absorbed into body. Chaga betulinic acid is also not water soluble.

[wildfyr]

Can you extract it into high proof (but water containing) drinking alcohol? I know its ridiculous, but he adulterants in alcohol are in there for precisely this reason, to prevent them from being used to do extractions and chemistry that is then put into the human body.

[avalon]

Highest percentage food grade alcohol that can be legally bought is 79% ethanol. But I rather got to buy in Poland where 95% 1L ethanol is cheaper at same amount or maybe even make own from yeast.

[wildfyr]

I'm sorry we couldn't be more helpful, but some people about as clever as we are carefully chose MEK because it is so difficult to separate from ethanol.