Separation of isopropylbenzene from a midcontinent petroleum by adsorption with silica gel and distillation with acetic acid

Isopropylbenzene was isolated from the g:1Soline distillate of a midcontinent petroleum, which boiled between 144 and 154 C, and in which the concentration of the compound was about 3 percent. By adsorbing the aromatic portion of the distillate on silica gel and distilling the adsorbed material with glacial acetic acid , an aromatic concentrate was obtained which, by subsequent fractional distillation, yielded nearly pure isopropylbenzene. The physical properties of the isolated material were: bp76o, 152.39C; fp, -96.46C; d 2 f , 0.8634 ; n7.,", 1.4914; mole percent purity, 98.4; compared with bp760, 152.38 C; fp, -96.25C; d~o, 0.8633; n1", 1.4915 for a synthetic sample with a calculated purity of 99.8 mole percent. The amount by volume of isopropylbenzene in the petroleum is estimated to be about 0.03 of the amount of the previously isolated n-nonane. On this basis, the isopropylbenzene constitutes approximately 0.03 percent of the petroleum.