Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Tetrahydrofuran Peroxide in a Glass Bottle

MagicJigPipe - 17-7-2018 at 15:39

Sorry but this is the best pic I could get of some of the crystals that remain in this bottle that once contained THF and has now completely evaporated to dryness. There are a few more tiny crystals in the bottom and, with my luck, some all up in the cap threads.

Assuming there was 250 mL of THF in here and, say, 100 mg of THF peroxides remaining, how dangerous would you say this is? Could I safely open this behind a board with tongs or some other tool? SHOULD I just for the sake of curiosity? Is it so dangerous it’s not worth it? If so, should I shoot it with a gun from far away to dispose of it? Should I even put this in a car to transport it to said shooting location? Or should I just bury it? I’m leaning towards the latter.

E571DA34-A2A2-4954-BFD4-99E4F0A4489D.jpeg - 40kB

Cipher - 17-7-2018 at 15:55

I doubt that you made THF. How do you know it is what it is? Have you tested?
According to this "THF peroxides have not yet been detected by experiment".

Also why risk? If it is unknown or first time you are dealing with this, consider it dangerous. Test for explosiveness.

Loptr - 17-7-2018 at 16:37

Quote: Originally posted by Cipher  
I doubt that you made THF. How do you know it is what it is? Have you tested?
According to this "THF peroxides have not yet been detected by experiment".

Also why risk? If it is unknown or first time you are dealing with this, consider it dangerous. Test for explosiveness.


He said that the bottle once contained THF, which has since evaporated to dryness [assuming by leakage]. I assume that's how he has a guess of what it could be.

Was it clean THF? Maybe not so volatile some thing that was dissolved in it? Could it be some something like BHT?


[Edited on 18-7-2018 by Loptr]

MagicJigPipe - 17-7-2018 at 18:30

It was reagent grade or better THF “stabilized with BHT”. I guess it could be that.

Laboratory of Liptakov - 19-7-2018 at 00:02

Shoot from the sling against a wall 20 meters away.....:cool:

MagicJigPipe - 19-7-2018 at 09:39

Screw it. It’s probably BHT but it’s a glass bottle vs my fingers or at the very least my pride. I’ve decided it shall be shot with buckshot. I may upload the video somewhere.

By the way, a little off topic but interesting. The 240 FPS high speed video capture mode of the iPhone 7 and higher is apparently fast enough to catch two frames of 12 gauge birdshot flying through the air to a target about 5-10 meters away (in just the right lighting/angle conditions). Must be the size of the “projectile”. I sure hope they add 480 FPS to future iPhone versions!

TheRealKP - 19-7-2018 at 15:17

THF hydroperoxide formation is like ether hydroperoxides in terms of safety. They tend to be safe until they are concentrated. The previous posts showed cases where the peroxide was dissolved in thf, not pure peroxides. I. Therefore, it is safe when dilute, but dangerous when concentrated. If its not BHT then you might lose your hand.