DIBALL
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Is inert gas mandatory for handling DIBAL?
I want to perform a reduction with Diisobutylaluminium hydride (DIBAL), where 1mol of it is solved in 100mL of toluene. On the package it is written,
that it should be handled under inert gas, but I have none of it available right now and since the reaction is on a small scale, I don´t want to put
a lot of effort in maintaining an inert gas system, if it´s not really necessary...
So, has anyone experience with DIBAL and knows, if an inert system is that important? If I loose a bit of DIBAL due to exposure to air it´s no big
deal, but if it ignites, it could be a problem...
I thought that I set up a 2-neck flask with a reflux column on it and seal the other neck with a rubber stopper. Then I dissolve the chemical, that I
want to reduce in dry toluene and put it in the flask. I wait till the toluene vapors fill the flask/column and then add with a syringe the DIBAL
through the rubber stopper. This should work, or not?
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Dan Vizine
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If it behaves like Red-Al, you can get away with it. Personally, I'd try it.
I'd estimate that the chance of ignition is just about nil.
"All Your Children Are Poor Unfortunate Victims of Lies You Believe, a Plague Upon Your Ignorance that Keeps the Youth from the Truth They
Deserve"...F. Zappa
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AvBaeyer
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I have used a lot of DIBAL in years past. If at all possible you should use an inert atmosphere. Any well equipped organic lab where DIBAL or similar
reagent might be used should have at least a nitrogen line. If you are skilled and careful with your syringe work however you should be able to do a
small scale transfer on the odrer of a few mil's. You are somewhat "protected" by having the DIBAL in toluene rather than a more volatile solvent.
Just make sure that there is no residual drop on the end of your transfer needle. When exposed to air DIBAL will smoke and pop and can set fire to any
spillage. Good luck.
AvB
Edit: It is much more dangerous to handle than Red-Al.
[Edited on 5-1-2017 by AvBaeyer]
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PirateDocBrown
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Setting up a low-budget N2 line isn't terribly hard.
Many welding gas suppliers will sell N2 in small containers, even lecture bottles.
Get a simple regulator (they can often be found used), and run a tube from the cylinder to a drying trap. (A small filter flask with a glass tube in a
stopper, filled with CaCl2, would work.)
From there, a tube with a Luer needle on the end.
Use reaction flasks with septa, a disposable needle for vent, and your dry N2 line in. Blow out your air, sparge your reactants, then do your transfer
with a needled syringe.
I did most of my syntheses in grad school with just such an arrangement.
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DDTea
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Non-pyrophoric limit for DIBAL-H is 20% in solvent. 1 mol/100 mL toluene = approximately 60 wt%. This solution is pyrophoric as hell. You
definitely want to keep this under inert gas.
https://www.akzonobel.com/polymer/system/images/akzonobel_di...
"In the end the proud scientist or philosopher who cannot be bothered to make his thought accessible has no choice but to retire to the heights in
which dwell the Great Misunderstood and the Great Ignored, there to rail in Olympic superiority at the folly of mankind." - Reginald Kapp.
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Dan Vizine
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I think that his proposed method, if executed well, will exclude air sufficiently well. Only one way to find out. That's what scouting runs are for.
[Edited on 7-1-2017 by Dan Vizine]
"All Your Children Are Poor Unfortunate Victims of Lies You Believe, a Plague Upon Your Ignorance that Keeps the Youth from the Truth They
Deserve"...F. Zappa
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