prof_genius
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What chemicals can you not find a source for?
I was wondering what chemicals you most want to buy and/or have trouble finding, I am asking because I could potentially sell reagents. Please also
include your locations.
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NexusDNA
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I cannot find erythritol where I live. Too bad I live in Brazil. 
World Cup doesn't help acquiring chemicals.
Bromine, definitely bromine.
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Praxichys
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Cyanuric trichloride.
Michigan, USA.
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numos
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Toluene, MEK, Xylene, at least I can still buy Acetone. Ca, US
Edit:
Phosphorus trichloride, oxalyl chloride, and Thionyl chloride would also be nice,but perhaps a bit to hazardous to easily ship.
[Edited on 6-16-2014 by numos]
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Loptr
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I have found a lot of reagents in my searches, but they tend to be a bit pricey, and would prefer an alternative if possible. (overseas or waste
recovery streams are expensive)
Benzoyl Chloride
Cyanuric Chloride
I have tried my best to get an account with a few chemical supply companies, such as VWR and TCI, but in the end the residential address is making it
a bit difficult. Everything would be so much cheaper!
Virginia, USA
[Edited on 16-6-2014 by Loptr]
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smaerd
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It's mostly the simple things everyone takes for granted in a professional lab and especially in finding them in small quantities. Here are some vague
things I've always been on the hunt for...
Aluminum Trichloride (anhydrous), no idea why this one is so hard to find. 100-250g lot of that would be fantastic.
Tertiary amines bases, triethylamine, pyridine, etc. Find this particularly annoying as well, granted the preparation for huenigs base in pre-pub
sounds fantastic, it also seems like a bit of a pain for something just to enhance my TLC results (amine tailing etc) and work on mobile phases for
separations. I've found a source for triethylamine but it was some hundreds of dollars for a small amount of the salt, whereas from any major supplier
the free compound is cheap as chips (50usd for 500mL).
Simple acyl halides (benzoyl, etc), Find these particularly annoying because preparing them ultimately requires thionyl chloride or similar heavy duty
activators, which just aren't comfortable in my home(hard to find and hazardous to make as well).*hats off to those of you who make your own*
Protecting groups in general. Wouldn't that be nice.
Goofy things like salicylaldehyde, methyl isobutyl ketone.
Simple things like these have held back so many of my synthetic and analytic projects.
edit - USA
[Edited on 16-6-2014 by smaerd]
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aga
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Selling small quantities of diverse reagents to such a niche market is unlikely to be profitable unless you are really smart.
I admire this bit of market research though - shows some business brains - and i wish you every success.
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Fantasma4500
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MIK can be found here
http://www.ebay.de/itm/ISOPROPYLACETONE-isobutyl-methyl-keto...
i only know this because i have been scrolling all his items through just today
but its in europe, however
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prof_genius
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My idea was to purchase chemicals in Poland, where you can get a bottle of extra pure H2SO4 for about $1.50 and sell it in europe. Bulk chemicals are
also really cheap, and I could sell them on ebay. This would let me register a business therefore I could buy from larger companies. Plus amateur
chemists aren't the only ones interested in chemicals, there are people who use them for cleaning pyrotechnicians etc. This is just an idea at the
moment.
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UnintentionalChaos
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Quote: Originally posted by smaerd  |
Aluminum Trichloride (anhydrous), no idea why this one is so hard to find. 100-250g lot of that would be fantastic.] |
This. So much this. I'd buy a kilo at Aldrich prices if I could ($90!). It's so incredibly cheap industrially. I've tried to make it before and it was
a hellish amount of work for 12g. FC acylations consume ~1.5eq for acyl chlorides, and 2.5eq for anhydrides (the extra equivalent is
complexed/destroyed by the acetic acid byproduct)
Sodium fucking iodide (NaFuckingI). Potassium iodide seems to be no problem at all, even though it is annoyingly expensive. For some
reason, the sodium salt is elusive and absurdly priced when I can find it. I'd like to be able to use my general-purpose iodide for the Finkelstein
reaction, and KI doesn't cut it.
[Edited on 6-16-14 by UnintentionalChaos]
Department of Redundancy Department - Now with paperwork!
'In organic synthesis, we call decomposition products "crap", however this is not a IUPAC approved nomenclature.' -Nicodem
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smaerd
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@unintentionalchaos - Oh yea for the Finkelstein it really needs to be sodium iodide. That reaction is largely driven by
weird steric type effects of acetone and the dissociated salt.
@aga - several posters have bulk bought commonly sought chemicals and distributed them through the website before. If done properly it can net very
profitable results, at least to my understanding. But it is probably hard to pool everyone together and whoever makes the purchase takes the risks of
being ripped off and all of that. Seems like that mostly happens when several people are working on similar varieties of chemistry however.
@prof genius
if you not only cater to hobbyists, consider small educational facilities as well. If you offer things like quick shipping you might be surprised who
you could convert from the larger supply houses. Not sure how the situation is in Eu. The previous school I was at had to wait months for 'small'
shipments. This frustrated my professor to a large extent.
Europe wouldn't help the majority of the posters out that have replied it seems. Might of been a good idea to mention your location before asking for
everyone elses for future reference.
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Dr.Bob
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A problem with most amines, triethylamine, pyridine, Hunig's base, etc, is that they are considered corrosive liquids, which makes shipping them a
nightmare. If you are willing to freebase them, the HCl salts of some are able to be shipped (in small quantities), without as many issues. So if
you are thinking of doing a group buy, I would consider triethylamine HCl or pyridine HCl as much easier to ship compounds.
I once had a liquid leak being shipped to me at work, by a small chemical company and that created a load of paperwork and the like, plus costs for
the "cleanup", which were paid by the shipper. So shipping liquids is very tough, as if one leaks in transit, you will likely have someone knocking
on your door wanting to know answers to lots of questions. I only say this to protect people from getting stung, as the DOT does not consider
ignorance of the laws as innocent, and the DOT hazmat rules are a true nightmare.
Even after taking classes and reading the rules, I can safely say that conforming to all of the DOT rules is nearly impossible without having lots of
experience and eve then the different government rules often conflict with each other. So best to keep the amounts under 35 g, ship only solids, seal
any materials very well (parafilm on the cap, then several plastic bags each sealed separately, then some absorbent padding which will not dissolve in
the chemical, should it leak.) And if you can put the entire bagged bottle inside an outer container, that is even better. Paint cans, plastic
tupperware, or whatever is reasonably tightly sealed.
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prof_genius
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The main purpose behind this is to get an account secured with a wholesale chemical distributor. If I would get that I would probably open an online
store selling glassware and chemicals, it has come to my attention that Simax is cheap in Poland.
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Etaoin Shrdlu
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Rubidium hydroxide. Wisconsin, USA.
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prof_genius
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Thanks for all the help. I will think all the info i've collected and see if I should open an online shop.
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