Separation process.

摘要

This invention discloses a process for separating acetone, dichloromethane and trifluoroacetic acid from a mixture of acetone, dichloromethane, and a trifluoroacetic acid/acetone azeotrope comprising the steps of: (1) fractionally distilling the mixture of acetone, dichloromethane, and the trifluoroacetic acid/acetone azeotrope to separate the dichloromethane from a mixture of the trifluoroacetic acid/acetone azeotrope and free acetone; (2) fractionally distilling the mixture of the trifluoroacetic acid/acetone azeotrope and free acetone to separate the free acetone from the trifluoroacetic acid/acetone azeotrope; (3) adding at least about 16 parts of water to the trifluoroacetic acid/acetone azeotrope per 100 parts by volume of the trifluoroacetic acid/acetone azeotrope to break the trifluoroacetic acid/acetone azeotrope producing a mixture of free acetone and a water/trifluoroacetic acid azeotrope; (4) fractionally distilling the mixture of free acetone and the water/trifluoroacetic acid azeotrope to separate the free acetone from the water/trifluoroacetic acid azeotrope; (5) adding at least about 10 parts of sulfuric acid to the water/trifluoroacetic acid azeotrope per 100 parts by volume of the water/trifluoroacetic acid azeotrope to break the water/trifluoroacetic acid azeotrope producing a mixture of trifluoroacetic acid and a water/sulfuric acid complex; (6) fractionally distilling the mixture of trifluoroacetic acid and the water/sulfuric acid complex to separate the trifluoroacetic acid from the water/sulfuric acid complex.