N-haptane Vs Hapetane

[nightroad]

hi, was wondering if we can use n-haptane to extract dmt from the acasia formosa bark?
and what would the difference be when using n-haptane vs regular haptane?

 

[downwardsfromzero]

Presumably you mean heptane. [Hapticity is a term used in chemistry but you don't need to know about that right now, I can assure you ]

The "n" in n-heptane is actually short for "normal", so your regular heptane is most likely largely n-heptane.

So, why n-heptane and not some other kind of heptane? The heptane molecule consists of a chain of 7 carbon atoms. Each carbon atom can form four bonds to other atoms. In the case of substances like heptane, which as a class are known as alkanes, all the 'spare' bonds which aren't binding to another carbon atom get filled up by binding to hydrogen. But, these bonds could just as easily be to another carbon atom, and each carbon atom can form a bond with up to four others and not just the one (at the chain ends) or two (in the middle of the chain). This is essentially a branching of the chain of carbon atoms, and these differernt ways of arranging the same number of atoms in a molecule are know as 'isomers' - from the Greek meaning 'same parts'.

Heptane has nine isomers, or eleven if enantiomers are counted:

Heptane (n-heptane), H3C–CH2–CH2–CH2–CH2–CH2–CH3,
2-Methylhexane (isoheptane), H3C–CH(CH3)–CH2–CH2–CH2–CH3,
3-Methylhexane, H3C–CH2–C*H(CH3)–CH2–CH2–CH3 (chiral),
2,2-Dimethylpentane (neoheptane), H3C–C(CH3)2–CH2–CH2–CH3,
2,3-Dimethylpentane, H3C–CH(CH3)–C*H(CH3)–CH2–CH3 (chiral),
2,4-Dimethylpentane, H3C–CH(CH3)–CH2–CH(CH3)–CH3,
3,3-Dimethylpentane, H3C–CH2–C(CH3)2–CH2–CH3,
3-Ethylpentane, H3C–CH2–CH(CH2CH3)–CH2–CH3,
2,2,3-Trimethylbutane, H3C–C(CH3)2–CH(CH3)–CH3, this isomer is also known as pentamethylethane and triptane.

Heptane - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

These isomers will have different intermolecular forces, so their boiling points will be lower than, and their melting points will differ from, that of n-heptane. They will also have slightly different solvent properties, although this is generally not going to be particularly significant - the main reason being that it's quite straightforward to separate n-alkanes from their branched-chain isomers on an industrial scale.

The upshot is that your heptane will be pretty much guaranteed to be n-heptane; otherwise it will be a narrow-boiling-range fraction of hydrotreated petroleum distillate centred around 98°C consisting largely of n-heptane. This kind of information would come from the data sheet which should be available for your product.

If heptane is the only solvent you have then you can use it for ACRB extraction. It just isn't the only possibility by any means.


And, welcome to the Nexus.