Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Synthesis of Oxygen Absorbing Crystal (from cobalt)

SupaVillain - 13-4-2015 at 07:48

Ok guys, that new crystal they discovered from cobalt is crazy useful, some number liters (prolly a few) can suck up all the oxygen out of a room and can hold three times as much as a high pressure oxygen tank.

so obviously i want to make it.

The name of it is:

"*If you must know, the chemical name of the salt is written out as {(bpbp)Co2II(NO3)}2(NH2bdc)2 * 2H2O, where “bpbp” stands for 2,6-bis(N,N-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)-aminomethyl)-4-tert-butylphenolato, and “NH2bdc2” stands for 2-amino-1,4-benzenedicarboxylato). Don’t ask us how to pronounce all that."

If you can tell me how to make this... i will make it and provide pretty pictures and advice on my experience. And if i can make a lot, I will certainly sell it to you. I have some experience with chemistry and hard determination to learn and accomplish but I start to get distant when the names are longer than my attention span LOL

even if i need industrial equipment i have a shop to make all that in

Loptr - 13-4-2015 at 07:59

Are you referring to this?

http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2014/SC/C4SC01...

SupaVillain - 13-4-2015 at 08:16

Yes it is! i saw a patent but was going to find a day off from work to rent it and do a bunch of research on it. Most of the time synthesis is written out in patents, hopefully this one is too.

[Edited on 13-4-2015 by SupaVillain]

cmos6667 - 13-4-2015 at 09:44

relevant username much?! don't make me regret this ;)


Edit(woelen): Cmos6667 asked me to remove downloadable file, due to copyright issues.

[Edited on 16-6-15 by woelen]

SupaVillain - 13-4-2015 at 09:56

LOL i dont know of much evil i can do with oxygen crystals. These may prove to help much in firefighting to starve fires of oxygen and make safer and cheaper oxygen tank setups for the firefighters.

cmos6667 - 13-4-2015 at 10:01

right, that's what I thought! but seriously though, this could be useful for making inert environment for reactions

Loptr - 13-4-2015 at 11:13

Quote: Originally posted by cmos6667  
right, that's what I thought! but seriously though, this could be useful for making inert environment for reactions


And this is what I thought as I read the abstract. I was looking into different methods for deoxygenating various solvents a while back, and this might be something of interest.

EDIT: Also, possibly as a source of oxygen if the complex could readily release it in a controlled manner.

[Edited on 13-4-2015 by Loptr]

Praxichys - 13-4-2015 at 12:01

Might be a good media replacement for PSA-based oxygen concentrators, especially for generating near-100% oxygen. It could have applications in many industries - imagine a self-regenerating low pressure oxygen tank. Long-lasting rebreathers, self-regenerating welding equipment, oxygen storage for submersibles and hypoxic, high-altitude environments...

Dr.Bob - 13-4-2015 at 12:07

They show that they can release it simply by heating. The system does look great for both removing oxygen from gases for inert streams (like glove boxes), as well as oxygen concentrators, like what old people with CPOD and emphysema use to breath.

cmos6667 - 13-4-2015 at 12:21

it takes upwards of 24h to absorb oxygen and that oxygen is released upon heating, so I highly doubt your idea for fire extinction.

SupaVillain - 13-4-2015 at 18:00

HMMMMMM okay well that sucks that means it cant be used to knock people in a room. Well as far as the 24 hour figure for absorption... how much are we talking???? I dont care if it takes 24 hours if over that span of time it could do a whole airgas truck of oxygen cylinders! Either way im sure i wont care sinve its way cheaper than an oxygen concentrator and the whole setup

cmos6667 - 13-4-2015 at 23:50

Here's what you could do: you know how cigarettes have a lot of tar and ash? That's because of incomplete combustion - increase the oxygen and voilà, low tar cigarettes ;)

Oscilllator - 14-4-2015 at 02:44

Quote: Originally posted by cmos6667  
Here's what you could do: you know how cigarettes have a lot of tar and ash? That's because of incomplete combustion - increase the oxygen and voilà, low tar cigarettes ;)

I think this would cause the cigarette to burn vigorously even when you aren't sucking on it, rather than eliminate the tar. Still though, I imagine it would be amusing to try.

Tsjerk - 14-4-2015 at 07:16

Besides the sigaret vigorously burning, also the nicotine would burn...

cmos6667 - 14-4-2015 at 07:21

or maybe isolate the nicotine, then nitrate the hell out of the cellulose, then put the nicotine back

Metacelsus - 14-4-2015 at 08:48

That's not how you make exploding cigarettes.

MrHomeScientist - 15-4-2015 at 05:40

Replace the tar with volatile {(bpbp)Co2II(NO3)}2(NH2bdc)2 * 2H2O! That sounds like a great idea!

I would be amazed if someone could make this at home.

SupaVillain - 15-4-2015 at 06:02

Im really confused here, the main chemical discussed is {(bpbp)Co2II(NO3)}2(NH2bdc)2 * 2H2O, but only synthesis for ones ending with 18, 12, 11, 15, 5H20's and a MeOH one are included. Are these more useful variations of the crystal? Which one is the most useful for oxygen purposes? Or am I supposed to know how to further turn these things into {(bpbp)Co2II(NO3)}2(NH2bdc)2 * 2H2O????????

SupaVillain - 15-4-2015 at 19:31

Pls halp

Steam - 16-4-2015 at 05:46

Supa Villan, a more detailed documentation of synth is on the last two pages of document. Here is the beginning of it. You are going to need bpbpH which I think stands for bipyrrolidine, but I am not 100% sure. You could easily look it up, after all you have access nearly infinite information right at your fingertips! :)



Screen Shot 2015-04-16 at 8.40.50 AM.png - 123kB

SupaVillain - 16-4-2015 at 11:47

My issue is that each of the bold text names on the synths are different compounds, unless Im wrong, I dont know which one to choose but I guess I'll just go with the easiest one, they said also that two of them are slower to absorb oxygen than the rest.

At least cobalt nitrate hexhydrate is cheap and easy to obtain off of ebay.

Consequence - 16-4-2015 at 15:20

Sorry I can't login as SupaVillain, password issues and not receiving emails within temp password....:(

anyways I've found the synthesis for bpbpH,(aka Hbpbp?) which is necessary for pretty much all the syntheses.


bpbpH SYNTHESIS

2,6-Bis{[bis(2-pyridylmethyl)amino]methyl}-4-tert-butylphenol,
Hbpbp
4-tert-Butylphenol (1.994 g, 0.0133 mol) and p-formaldehyde
(1.55 g, 0.0517 mol) were suspended in ethanol (25 cm3
). A
solution of N,N-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)amine (10.0 g, 0.0503 mol)
in H2O (50 cm3
) was added and the slightly yellow suspension
was stirred at reflux temperature for 3 d. The two-phase reaction
mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature and was
then partitioned between CH2Cl2 (200 cm3
) and H2O (100 cm3
).
The aqueous phase was extracted with CH2Cl2 (3 × 50 cm3
) and
the combined organic phase dried over anhydrous Na2SO4.
After removal of the solvent, the resulting brown oil was chromatographed
on a silica gel column using acetone as eluent
affording the crude product (5.86 g, 77% yield) as a slightly
yellow solid (m.p. = 122–126 8C). Recrystallization from diethyl
ether–light petroleum resulted in the pure product as white
crystals (60% relative to the crude product, m.p. = 123 8C). 1
H
NMR (250 MHz): d 1.27 (s, 9 H), 3.82 (s, 4 H), 3.90 (s, 8 H),
7.08 (m, 4 H), 7.19 (s, 2 H), 7.48–7.61 (m, 8 H), 8.52 (m, 4 H),
10.80 (s, 1 H). 13C-{1
H} NMR (62 MHz): d 31.57 (s), 33.85 (s),
55.12 (s), 59.88 (s), 121.81 (s), 122.84 (s), 123.16 (s), 125.85 (s),
136.33 (s), 140.79 (s), 148.83 (s), 153.43 (s), 159.39 (s) (Found:
C, 75.49; H, 7.04; N, 14.67. Calc. for C36H40N6O: C, 75.23; H,
6.96; N, 14.48%). FAB mass spectrum: m/z 572 (0.5, M1), 93
(100%, C5H4NCH2
1)

(from "Dinuclear iron(III)–metal(II) complexes as structural core models for
purple acid phosphatases †"
Morten Ghiladi, Christine J. McKenzie, Anke Meier, Annie K. Powell, Jens Ulstrup, and Sigrid Wocadlo
J. Chem. Soc., Dalton Trans., 1997, Pages 4011–4018)

DFliyerz - 8-6-2015 at 07:59

I've recently started work on synthesizing one of these crystals, and I think that I've figured out a pretty good method. I have yet to test it since I'm waiting on my distillation apparatus to arrive so I can make nitric acid, but the general idea of the synthesis is simple. The two more complex chemicals required for the easiest synthesis in the document are disodium terephthalate, which can be made by the "PET to terephthalic acid" method by Chromium, and cobalt nitrate, of which the synthesis is pretty obvious. I have some pieces of PET bottle cut up and ready to process, and I'll make cobalt nitrate from cobalt carbonate as soon as I can make nitric acid. I'll be sure to report back here once I do it. A synthesis for a possibly better crystal could be done by nitrating terephthalic acid and reducing the nitro group. I'll likely test both, but definitely the one with disodium terephthalate first. EDIT: Forgot about the bpbpH! I'll look into that.

[Edited on 6-8-2015 by DFliyerz]

Mrinny - 15-12-2017 at 10:17

Hey @DFliyerz

Any progress with the synthesis? How far did you come along? Did you stop midway? Any updates will be cool.

Xiomy - 20-1-2018 at 09:06

Hello, I need to make the synthesis of these crystals in the university, all the information here has helped me a lot to know where to start, but I would like to have more help from you if possible.

Thank you, good day.

Boffis - 21-1-2018 at 07:11

@Xiomy; if you are doing this in a university surely there is someone you can ask and presumably you have library access to online journals? If not will your university have N,N-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)amine? This is the most difficult part of the preparation. I am interested in this ligand for other purposes and am in the process of trying to make. I have got as far as 2cyanopyridine; from here I propose to try and reduce it to the mono-amine 2-pyridylmethylamine then condense this with 2-pyridinecarboxaldehyde to produce the enamine. Then I'll have to find away to reduce the enamine to the desired product.

Then you have to carry out the syntheses above. No mean feat; I managed to acquire some 2-picolinamide and 2-pyridinecarboxaldehyde which helped a lot but the dehydration of the amide was a tough nut with poor yields and the selective hydrogenations that are then required have brought my experiments to a halt for now.

So good luck and keep us posted on your progress!

halogen - 21-1-2018 at 15:21

2-methyl pyridine is also known by picoline; it is a industrial bypriduct.

Boffis, why didn't you skip the nitrile, unless you started without the aldehyde and then bought that? Reduction might be tricky because the pyridine nitrogen will want electrons, which I suppose you know, but I think you can manage.

I would have thought 2-halomethyl pyridine (eg. 2-Picolyl chloride) to be a superior starting point, though: because of its bulk you could probably only stir it together with ammonia and get a good amount of dialkylated product.

I have found you a reference to its preparation from picoline, if that interests you, via chlorination with trichloroisocyanuric acid,. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cber.19871200431/...

[Edited on 21-1-2018 by halogen]

[Edited on 21-1-2018 by halogen]

Boffis - 22-1-2018 at 12:36

@halogen; I didn't have any picoline at the time I started though I was keeping an eye open for it and still am but I did track down some picolinamide which is rare, the 3 carboxamide is nicotinamide but is no use in this case. Another problem with the chloromethyl group to amine is getting the right amine! You can get the mono amine by using the Delepine or the K-phthalamide reactions but getting the the secondary amine is more difficult, you tend to get mixture which then has to be separated. The advantage of the enamine route was that it only gives a secondary amine (in theory). So while you are right about pyridylmethyl chloride being a simpler route to the monoamine, the secondary amine I am less sure about and I also have other uses for pyridine-2-carboxaldehyde (I have already posted the preparation of pyridoin and I am now trying to convert it to 2-pyridil (the pyridine analogue of benzil)) so it made sense to purchase some when the opportunity arose.

It may be possible to separate the mixture of pyridylmethyl amines that results from the interaction of ammonia and the pyridylmethyl chloride in a manner similar to that used to separate aniline, methylaniline and dimethylaniline but that's more research and experimentation.

As with most amateurs the route I choose is to a large extent dictated by what is available to me! If only we could still pick up the Sigma A or TCI catalogue and just buy what we need ... Ahhhh Dreams :)

Assured Fish - 22-1-2018 at 21:00

An interesting material however i dont think equipment is the issue.

http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2014/sc/c4sc01636j...


bpbpH.png - 4kB

This i think it bpbpH, to which i estimated the structure based on the following paper:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002016930...

It is this compound that i think is the troublesome part.
Co(BF4)2.6H2O i think could be prepared by reacting hydrofluoric acid with boric acid to form fluoroboric acid, which could then be neutralized with cobalt hydroxide and then worked up.

I originally tried to draw the entire {(bpbp)Co2II(NO3)}2(NH2bdc)2.2H2O ligand complex on chemsketch however it turned into a bit of an illogical mess and while it does resemble the compound from the paper, i think the structures in the paper do a much better job of illustrating it :D.


[Edited on 23-1-2018 by Assured Fish]

halogen - 23-1-2018 at 01:11

In general yes: in the case with benzyl chloride very little primary amine is produced; the secondary and tertiary are separated by crystalization as hydrochloride and or distillation the aryl groups are less trivial than methyl (and the three basic amines is leverage w/ pyr) (interestingly tribenzylamine when subject to notably rough treatment but relatively simple... heated to 250 deg. in a stream of HCl yields Bn2NH salt, that wouldn't work with pyridyl, just a fun fact); because the pyridyl nucleus is more miserly with its electrons, by comparison to benzene, I supposed the di-aralkylated product to be reasonably expected in good yield but I could be wrong

https://books.google.com/books?id=XIYPAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA337
https://books.google.com/books?id=dqs0AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA2068
https://books.google.com/books?id=UngPAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA491 (for fun)

In any case, good luck.

clearly_not_atara - 23-1-2018 at 16:45

You can probably make bis-(2-pyridylmethyl)amine by the reaction of p-toluenesulfonamide with two equivalents of picolinyl chloride (2-chloromethylpyridine) in the presence of a suitable base, followed by deprotection with HBr in AcOH. This then condenses with formaldehyde and 4-tertbutylphenol to the ligand. This detosylation is disclosed here:

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jo00863a042

Boffis - 24-1-2018 at 13:00

@clearly_not_atara; I looked at the link above and I have to say I don't see any support for your idea! However, pursuing this logic acid; amides are usually fairly uncooperative with regards to substitution into the NH2 group what make toluene sulphonamide special? If this work would say benzamide or acetamide work? I once required some pure N-methylaniline and I wondered if you could prepare it from acetanilide by deprotonating the remaining amide hydrogen and then reacting it with methyl iodide. I did find a little about this reaction but it is evidently very obscure but displacing both protons from a sulphonamide group! It would be a nice route to to secondary amines if it worked.

clearly_not_atara - 24-1-2018 at 13:43

The link is only supposed to describe deprotection, not alkylation. I thought it well known that when amides are deprotonated, they are easily alkylated. Sulfonamides are about 1000000 times as acidic as carboxamides; P-toluenesulfonamide has a pKa of 10.2 whereas that of acetamide is 16.5. Deprotecting sulfonamides is usually the "hard" part of using N-sulfonyl protecting groups so in the citation the "superacid" system of HBr in AcOH does the honors, and this is preferred to alternatives like Birch reduction (which will destroy pyridine) or trimethylsilyl iodide (which is not OTC).

A description of the preparation of secondary amines via the base-catalyzed alkylation of sulfonamides can be found in Hu et al 2004, attached. Note that some of the problems Hu was concerned about when using strong bases in organic solvents (dehydrohalogenation) are absent here because 2-chloromethylpyridine does not undergo dehydrohalogenation.

Attachment: hu2004.pdf (69kB)
This file has been downloaded 345 times

[Edited on 24-1-2018 by clearly_not_atara]

Boffis - 26-1-2018 at 13:38

Clearly_not_atara: I didn't know there was such a difference between carboxamides and sulphonamides. This is interesting since it opens up a whole new route to secondary amines. I see now the significance of the paper you posted earlier.

Just have to find some picoline now