Petroleum Ether

Product Overview & Quality

Product Name: Petroleum Ether 40-60 °C or Ligroin
Brand: RCI LABSCAN (Product Code: LA-AR1147-G4L)
Grade: Analytical Reagent (AR Grade) featuring a tightly regulated boiling point distillation range between 40 to 60 degrees Celsius. Meticulously manufactured and quality-verified under RCI LABSCAN strict global laboratory specifications to guarantee exceptionally low ppm thresholds of non-volatile matter (evaporation residue), water content, free acidity, and heavy sulfur compounds. This highly refined non-polar hydrocarbon fraction eliminates background baseline noise and ensures absolute operational accuracy for critical extraction matrices.
Physical Properties: Clear, colorless, highly volatile, low-viscosity liquid with a distinctive, pungent, gasoline-like aliphatic petroleum odor. Volatile vapors are extremely flammable and easily form explosive mixtures with ambient air.
Solubility: Practically insoluble or completely immiscible with water (readily forms a separate top organic layer due to its exceptionally low density); completely miscible in all proportions with common non-polar organic solvents including diethyl ether, chloroform, benzene, and hexane.
Key Use: Heavily utilized as a primary non-polar solvent for extracting and isolating fats, oils, lipids, waxes, and non-polar phytochemical complexes within food, agricultural, and pharmaceutical testing laboratories (frequently applied in Soxhlet extraction setups). Widely used as a non-polar mobile phase component or eluent modifier in column chromatography and thin-layer chromatography (TLC) separation layouts. Also functions as an effective washing or crystallization agent in advanced organic chemical synthesis, and serves as an excellent degreasing fluid for removing heavy oils and sticky residues from specialized laboratory glassware.

Safety & Hazards (Critical & Flammable)

Classification: Extremely flammable liquid and vapor. May be fatal if swallowed and enters airways (Aspiration hazard). Causes skin irritation. May cause drowsiness or dizziness. Toxic to aquatic life with long-lasting effects.
Health Risks: Direct eye contact triggers immediate mechanical irritation, watering, and temporary redness. Prolonged or repeated dermal exposure rapidly strips natural skin lipids, leading to severe dry discomfort, cracked skin, or localized irritation. Inhalation of concentrated volatile vapors suppresses the central nervous system, inducing headaches, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, acute drowsiness, or unconsciousness in poorly ventilated environments.
First Aid Measures: Flush affected eyes or skin immediately with plenty of flowing water for at least 15 minutes while removing contaminated garments. If swallowed, do NOT induce vomiting due to critical and lethal aspiration risks into lungs; seek immediate, urgent medical emergency evaluation. If vapors are inhaled, promptly move the victim to fresh air.

Handling & Storage

Storage: Extremely Flammable and Highly Volatile Liquid with a Low Boiling Point (40-60 °C). Container internal vapor pressure can expand rapidly when exposed to warm ambient environments. Must be stored in its original, tightly sealed RCI LABSCAN container inside a dedicated, climate-controlled chemical safety cabinet for flammable liquids (ideally maintained between 15 to 25 degrees Celsius, completely away from direct sunlight). Keep strictly isolated from open flames, sparks, hot surfaces, static discharge, and strong oxidizing agents.
Precautions: Wear standard personal protective equipment (PPE), including chemical-resistant laboratory gloves, splash-proof safety glasses, and a protective lab coat. Handle exclusively and strictly within a properly functioning laboratory fume hood to contain highly volatile organic vapors and completely eliminate exposure or fire hazards.