A rotary evaporator is a laboratory instrument used to gently and efficiently remove a solvent from a chemical sample by combining reduced atmospheric pressure, mild heating and continuous rotation of the sample flask, which spreads the liquid into a thin film that evaporates quickly and evenly while the rotation helps prevent bumping or localized overheating, with the evaporated solvent then condensed and collected separately. The technique was developed in the 1950s, notably through the work of chemist Lyman C. Craig, and the commercial instrument form still widely recognized today owes much to the Swiss company Buchi, whose rotary evaporator design became the basis for the instrument used in laboratories worldwide. Rotary evaporators are a standard fixture of organic chemistry and pharmaceutical laboratories, used routinely to concentrate solutions, isolate a reaction product after solvent removal, or recover and recycle solvents, valued for accomplishing this more gently and quickly than simple open evaporation.
Facts
Invented YearLyman C. Craig built a simple rotary evaporator system; the Swiss company Buchi first commercialized it in 1957. Measuresseparates and removes a solvent from a sample by evaporation, based on differences in boiling point 1 Operating PrincipleThe sample flask is rotated in a heated bath under reduced pressure, which lowers the solvent's boiling point so it evaporates gently; the vapor passes up a vacuum-tight duct to a condenser and drips into a separate collection flask. 1 Classification
Instrument Class Connections
Used In
The rotary evaporator removes solvent from a reaction mixture under reduced pressure, routine bench apparatus in organic-chemistry synthesis and workup.
Sources
1. Rotary Evaporator (Wikipedia)
WikipediaWikipedia, Rotary evaporator article, lead section, invention and commercialization
A simple rotary evaporator system was invented by Lyman C. Craig. It was first commercialized by the Swiss company Büchi in 1957.
Wikipedia, Rotary evaporator article, lead section, first sentence
A rotary evaporator (rotovap) is a device used in chemical laboratories for the efficient and gentle removal of solvents from samples by evaporation.
Wikipedia, Rotary evaporator article, Theory section, first sentence
Vacuum evaporators as a class function because lowering the pressure above a bulk liquid lowers the boiling points of the component liquids in it.
Lede, instrument class
A rotary evaporator is a laboratory instrument used to gently and efficiently remove a solvent from a chemical sample by combining reduced atmospheric pressure, mild heating and continuous rotation of the sample flask, which spreads the liquid into a thin film that evaporates quickly and evenly while the rotation helps prevent bumping or localized overheating, with the evaporated solvent then condensed and collected separately.
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