When would one choose to perform a vacuum filtration?

Vacuum filtration is a technique that utilizes reduced pressure to facilitate the rapid separation of solids from liquids. It is particularly effective when you have a mixture containing a solid that needs to be isolated from a liquid phase, such as during the purification of a product following a reaction. The vacuum pulls the liquid through a filter, allowing the solid to remain on the filter paper, which is much faster than gravity filtration.

In contexts where there is a need to speed up the filtration process, such as when dealing with fine precipitates that would take a long time to filter by gravity, vacuum filtration becomes the preferred method. This technique is not suitable for separating immiscible liquids, neutralizing solutions, or concentrating solutions through evaporation, as those tasks utilize different laboratory techniques that are more appropriate for the specific separation or manipulation required.