[wiseowl]

Hello everyone, thank you very much for your help and advice. Im an engineering student but I like chemistry as a hobby. I like organic chemistry and Im interested in ketones. I would like to know if there is a way (homemade, I do not have industrial equipment, only normal laboratory glassware) to synthesize mesityl oxide from the aldolic condensation of acetone.

[rolnor]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesityl_oxide

[wiseowl]

Thanks for answering, yes, I have searched wikipedia before posting here, but that is a very open answer, it doesnt contain instructions, measurements etc.

[rolnor]

Check reference 4 and 5 in the link, it gives you links to the synthesis.

[Vidya]

http://www.orgsyn.org/demo.aspx?prep=CV1P0345

[AWK]

A reliable synthesis of mesityl oxide is very easy to find.
While the synthesis looks easy, it does require rigorous compliance with the procedure.
Besides, a very volatile and quite toxic compound is created. Therefore, the synthesis should be performed by an experienced chemist or a student under the supervision of such a chemist in good laboratory conditions (above all, very good ventilation).
Mesityl oxide is flammable and its vapors form an explosive mixture with air already at a temperature of ~ 25°C.

[wiseowl]

A reliable synthesis of mesityl oxide is very easy to find.
While the synthesis looks easy, it does require rigorous compliance with the procedure.
Besides, a very volatile and quite toxic compound is created. Therefore, the synthesis should be performed by an experienced chemist or a student under the supervision of such a chemist in good laboratory conditions (above all, very good ventilation).
Mesityl oxide is flammable and its vapors form an explosive mixture with air already at a temperature of ~ 25°C.

Thanks for your answer, i recently read that if you mix HCL and acetone, the acid catalyzes and produces the condensation of acetone first in mesityl oxide and then in phorone. is this correct? It would be an easier method.

In fact: if acetone was heated by itself in a container, for a long period, wouldn't it be the same? Acetone dehydrates and undergoes aldolic condensation. Or are different compounds produced?

[rolnor]

wiseowl, at what kind of level are you studying chemistry?

[AWK]

During the aldol condensation of acetone, a mixture of products is always formed, although by the choice of the catalyst and reaction conditions one can obtain some of the products in advantage.
It is troublesome to isolate pure compounds from such a mixture.
Many syntheses of the phorone can be found in the literature or on the Internet, with rather a low or moderate yield.