BEYOND CAIPIRINHA: BRAZILIAN CACHAÇA AS SOLVENT TO ORGANIC SYNTHESIS AND DYE EXTRACTION

Cachaça (brazilian sugarcane spirit) was applied for the first time as an alternative solvent in undergraduate experiments of organics synthesis, and natural dye extraction. The classical Claisen-Schmidt condensation of benzaldehyde with acetophenone and with acetone were employed to demonstrate the cachaça viability as solvent. Cachaça was also the recrystallization solvent of obtained benzalacetophenone and dibenzalacetone. The natural pigment of urucum (Bixa orellana L.) was obtained using as extractor solvent a 5% NaOH solution in cachaça. Considering that in Brazil cachaça is easily available and cheaper than the 40% mixture of ethanol/water, it can be found in every marketplace and is exported to 54 countries, the cachaça use as solvent is viable and attractive to green chemistry experiments in undergraduate courses, in Brazil and abroad.