Gasoline ⛽️ as an extraction solvent

The best (due to a very low boiling point) is Petroleum Ether. Not really an ether but mix of alkanes (pentane, hexane and heptane) with a very low boiling point. It can be found under a name extraction gasoline. The thing is that currently it’s used as paint thinner so it’s not clean enough to use for something that will be consumed by humas as it will have traces of benzene and toluene.

Another one is Naphtha (hydrocarbons with carbon numbers in the range of C4 to C11) but again, in order to make sure there is no stuff like benzene in it you have to look for a pharma grade.

Last one is Benzinum (gasoline) that can be found in pharmacies. It is used for cleaning the glassware and also for extraction. Good grade benzinum should be a mix of hexane and heptane only.

In reality it is quite hard to source good quality petroleum solvents with ensured content and without unwanted impurities. Stuff found in hardware shops can be used but there is a chance for benzene and toluene in the mix but it will be cheap. Pharma grade stuff is good quality but the price is much higher.

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