Trifluoroethanol is an organic compound. The formula for it is CF3CH2OH. There are several ways to refer to this compound. It is known as TFE and is also known as trifluoroethyl alcohol. It is a colorless liquid that can be dissolved in water, with a smell that is similar to ethanol. However, it is different from ethanol because of the fluorines in it. It is more acidic than ethanol is.

The production of trifluoroethanol takes place industrially. It is made by a process called hydrogenation. This is the process of creating trifluoroethanol is by the hydride reduction of trifluoroacetic acid. This process creates trifluoroethanol, which is then used in order to create many other compounds. Trifluoroethanol has a few uses on its own, but the majority of the time, the trifluoroethanol is used in order to create other compounds. However, because it is used so often and in so many compounds, it often becomes necessary to get it out of these compounds. The separation of trifluoroethanol can be tricky due to its chemical make up.

Trifluoroethanol is used as a solvent in organic chemistry. The main thing that Trifluoroethanol is used for is as a solvent for sulfur and hydrogen peroxide. It is also used as a co-solvent in protein folding studies. It can also be used as a solvent for nylon - and has many different uses within the pharmaceutical field. Trifluoroethanol is used in many different situations as a solvent. Since it is a very strong compound itself, trifluoroethanol will not only create other compounds, but will also strengthen these compounds. This is part of why it is such a popular compound in itself.

Because trifluoroethanol is used as a solvent in many different mixturess, sometimes you need to remove trifluoroethanol out of the mixture. Removing trifluoroethanol is something that can be very difficult because of its chemical properties. It is a building block in many chemical syntheses. In fact, trifluoroethanol may be found in many different mixtures, because it is used so often. It is hard to remove for several reasons. For instance, if the trifluoroethanol content is very low, it might take too much out of the existing mixture, which would render the entire thing useless. Therefore, methods like distillation are often impossible to do in order to remove trifluoroethanol.

However, there are other methods of removing trifluoroethanol from a compound. One method is just now beginning to be used. It is an invention that can be used for any organic liquid. It is a machine that the compound can be put into, and due to the various pressures of the compound compared the pressure of the trifluoroethanol, the trifluoroethanol can be removed from the compound without damaging any other components of the compound. This machine is currently a patent pending process, but there have been several other machines that have been developed that do the same thing.

There is also another distillation process that is done in a slightly different way. Due to the amount of water that is used in this process, the trifluoroethanol will be able to be more easily removed. This is because by changing the amount of water that is used, the trifluoroethanol will be able to bond to the components in it in a much different way. This will allow the trifluoroethanol to be removed without damaging the other parts of the compound as much as regular distillation processes would. For this reason, this new method of distillation is something that is used more widely and more popularly as time goes on.

Author's Bio: 

Stephanie Larkin is a freelance writer who writes about issues and topics pertaining to the use of chemicals such as Fluorochemicals | Trifluoroethanol