How would one go about producing this, assuming it is possible(in a home sense) for someone to do. Lab equipment can be procured if required.

Would you simply use vinegar, boiled of all the water(BP @ 118C or so for acetic acid) to give crystals?

Or would you "freeze" the crystals to get them free of the water?(MP @ 16.5C).

A friend(seriously) asked me how you could make this stuff some time ago, but i think i didnt give him enough information.

Thanks in advance.(or move if this isnt the right place)

Given that the melting point af acetic acid is fairly low, I think you would probably obtain and store it as a liquid or a frozen solid, rather than crystals.

I think you can simply distill white vinegar, though I have never had need to do this.

It is very douable, look on SM! There is a big big thread about it...or it can be bought for cheap...

How would one go about producing this, assuming it is possible(in a home sense) for someone to do. Lab equipment can be procured if required.

Would you simply use vinegar, boiled of all the water(BP @ 118C or so for acetic acid) to give crystals?

Azeotrope I'm afraid, I'm not entirely sure at what concentrations, I think its pretty damn weak though, something like 97% water. You're also not going to get crystals of acetic acid at room temperature and pressure.

Or would you "freeze" the crystals to get them free of the water?(MP @ 16.5C).


Uh, no.

You may be thinking of the more commonly taken route to GAA from 5% vinegar, which is to neutralise to sodium acetate, collect & purify the salt, and then whack in a distillation apparatus with everyone's favourite 98% H2SO4.

Or would you "freeze" the crystals to get them free of the water?(MP @ 16.5C).

^^ this. That's... exactly why it's called glacial acetic acid - a concentrated solution is carefully dripped over a phat shard...

Of course... good luck precipitating it at 5%. You'll probably want to do the sodium acetate/h2so4 et al, dilute it back to about 75% or so, bring it to a boil very briefly to boil off any excess H2SO4, maybe crash out the salt with ethanol or something, and then drop it down to 5-10c (or less, if it's still cut with ethanol), pick a shard that looks nice, redissolve the rest back to 75%, and start dribbling it up in size at about 10c, rewarming the aqueous source as neccesary, until you finally melt the whole crystal in a bottle... nice, glacial, glacial acetic acid. ;)

Or something.

^^ this. That's... exactly why it's called glacial acetic acid - a concentrated solution is carefully dripped over a phat shard...

Of course... good luck precipitating it at 5%. You'll probably want to do the sodium acetate/h2so4 et al, dilute it back to about 75% or so, bring it to a boil very briefly to boil off any excess H2SO4, maybe crash out the salt with ethanol or something, and then drop it down to 5-10c (or less, if it's still cut with ethanol), pick a shard that looks nice, redissolve the rest back to 75%, and start dribbling it up in size at about 10c, rewarming the aqueous source as neccesary, until you finally melt the whole crystal in a bottle... nice, glacial, glacial acetic acid. ;)

Or something.

I swear you post high. :p

I swear you post high. :p

Who doesn't? This is &T, after all.

Glacial acetic acid isn't a watched chemical, and it's not hard to get. Also, it's actually cheaper to buy glacial acetic acid and make your own distilled vinegar than it is to just buy the vinegar. Weird huh?

GAA = $26 a gallon
vinegar = $3 a gallon, which is 5% acetic acid

so that's 20 gallons for $26 to mix it yourself, or $60 to buy 20 gallons of vinegar.

Glacial acetic acid isn't a watched chemical, and it's not hard to get. Also, it's actually cheaper to buy glacial acetic acid and make your own distilled vinegar than it is to just buy the vinegar. Weird huh?

GAA = $26 a gallon
vinegar = $3 a gallon, which is 5% acetic acid

so that's 20 gallons for $26 to mix it yourself, or $60 to buy 20 gallons of vinegar.

Yeh i know, but i dont need it for anything im making. Like i said above, a friend asked me a while ago so i thought i'f ask here and see if it's even possible in a home sense.