chemical cleanup advice
chemical cleanup advice
(OP)
What products are formed when heated vinegar (around 5-50% acetic acid) and heated 70% isopropyl alcohol come into contact on a surface or their evaporating vapours. One of them seemed to be a kind of sweet smell..?
Second, if it spills on a surface and is mopped up with water and the small room is aired out for a few hours a day, why several weeks later would the smell still linger? Should it be a concern to address or is it just some insignificant remnants?
Third, what’s the most effective solution to resolve this? Just keep airing out the room or need to scrub with soap or utilize other materials/techniques?
Last, if you don’t know how to solve this either, anyone aware of a specific professional that would know the answer?
Second, if it spills on a surface and is mopped up with water and the small room is aired out for a few hours a day, why several weeks later would the smell still linger? Should it be a concern to address or is it just some insignificant remnants?
Third, what’s the most effective solution to resolve this? Just keep airing out the room or need to scrub with soap or utilize other materials/techniques?
Last, if you don’t know how to solve this either, anyone aware of a specific professional that would know the answer?
RE: chemical cleanup advice
RE: chemical cleanup advice
RE: chemical cleanup advice
Mixing acetic acid, isopropyl alcohol and water will not generate a significant amount of isopropyl acetate, because although the solution will be acidic and H+ is a catalyst for the esterification, the mixture is swamped with the leaving group (the product of the acid-alcohol reaction) which is water. That shifts the equilibrium toward reagents, preventing the formation of more than a tiny amount of the ester.
Isopropyl acetate does have a "fruity" odour like many esters, but it is NOT used in foods or flavourings because its hydrolysis product, isopropanol, is toxic when ingested. Its 1st metabolite is principally acetone...not something you want in your body.
All of these compounds- the acid, the alcohol and the ester- are readily soluble in water. If you smell something you don't like, mop the surface repeatedly with soapy water, allow to dry and repeat. If that doesn't rectify the situation, you have something else going on.
RE: chemical cleanup advice