Theoretically, metal iron cannot directly react with alcohol. According to the fact that a low boiling-point iron-containing compound was found in the synthesis of aluminum isopropoxide (AIP) while using iron-containing aluminum as a starting material, the effect of bulk iron on the reactivity of the iron impurity in aluminum towards 2-propanol and the reaction behavior of the iron impurity in aluminum turning/Fe-Al alloy at different iron contents with 2-propanol were studied. The iron content of the product isolated via vacuum-distillation was determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy. Based on the experimental result and theoretical analysis, the mechanism for the high reactivity of small size iron particles has been proposed. The product was determined by elemental analysis, ¹H NMR and IR.

Key words: small size, iron, 2-propanol, reactivity, aluminum isopropoxide, aluminum