Does ascorbic acid react with sodium chloride?

Question

Also, is it possible to remove ethanol from a mixture of ethanol and ascorbic acid?

Answer 1

To your first question, no.  There will be no reaction between sodium chloride and ascorbic acid.  The sodium ion is inert, and reacts with almost nothing.  It is also highly soluble, so there will be no precipitation reactions.  Finally, sodium chloride is the salt of a strong acid, so it is neutral, and cannot react with ascorbic acid.  Hydrogen chloride is volatile, so I suppose if you heated the mixture, you might be able to force a reaction:

H2Ascorbate(aq) + NaCl(aq) ------> NaHAscorbate(aq) + HCl(g)

But it will not occur to a large degree.  Also, the second H can only be taken off in extremely basic conditions (pKa = 11.6).

As for your second question, this is much easier.  Ethanol has a low boiling point (78.4C), and can easily be distilled from ascorbic acid or an aqueous solution of ascorbic acid.  The ascorbic acid will be left behind.  Note that ascorbic acid decomposes at 190C, so be careful to remove the mixture from the heat after all ethanol has boiled off.