'Ask Lab Tech Guy' is a regular feature in the e-newsletter from Mourne Training Services and is posted on the MTS blog. Find out more on the MTS website at http://www.mournetrainingservices.co.uk/Blog.html

1. ©2009 Mourne Training Services

2. ©2009 Mourne Training Services
Dear Lab Tech Guy,
Recently it has become very difficult to obtain HPLC grade acetonitrile
for my laboratory. Call you tell me what is going on and please give me
some advice on what I should do?
Yours,
Trevor
(Hull, England)

3. ©2009 Mourne Training Services
Dear Trevor,
The current shortage of acetonitrile is worldwide. It is
reportedly due to a combination of factors coming together
in a ‘perfect storm’ kind of way. The factors in question are:
1. The economic slowdown – acetonitrile is a by-product
during the production of acrylonitrile (used in plastics for
products such as car parts), the demand for which has
slumped.
2. Several factories in China were closed during the
preparations for the 2008 Olympic games.
That’s going
3. A plant in Texas was put out of action by a hurricane.
to make a
terrible mess.
All these events have coincided to cause the problems you
are now facing.

4. ©2009 Mourne Training Services
Obtaining supplies of HPLC grade acetonitrile can be
very frustrating at the moment. Although supplies of
acetonitrile appear to be recovering, solvent of the purity
Pssst! Wanna buy
required for HPLC is still subject to shortages. Previously some acetonitrile?
reliable suppliers are failing to make good on orders or
increasing their prices by exorbitant amounts. Not
unexpectedly a number of speculators have appeared in
the market, attracted by the potential for high financial
gain.
Recycling from solvent waste is an attractive idea for
obtaining acetonitrile. It is not as simple as isolating the
acetonitrile using a rotary evaporator because acetonitrile
forms an azeotrope with water at atmospheric pressure,
thus you can not get higher than 85%. Simple distillation
recyclers also have this problem. Typically the purity
obtained is not high enough for most HPLC applications.

5. Decision to build up a
supply of acetonitrile to last out
the shortages: 5/5
Decision to store the acetonitrile
supply near a naked flame: 0/5
©2009 Mourne Training Services
My advice is to use your supplies of acetonitrile very,
very carefully until the situation improves, this may not
be until the second half of 2009. If you can, try using
methanol instead. I’m afraid that we will just have to
wait until the acetonitrile industry once again becomes
solvent.
Yours flammably,

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©2009 Mourne Training Services