One of my favourate subjects is chemiluminescence. Several places in the US sell dinoflagilates, I havnt found anyone here yet though. Produce light only when shaken and only at night, they photosynthesize during the day and they need sterile conditions to last more than a few weeks at home. One of the confusing aspects of the literiture on this is that the light producing molecules of all biologicals is called 'luciferin' regardless of its structure. Pthalic acid nitrites very easily, and care must be taken so it doesnt get out of control, the 3 product is the majority one usually. I dont have this information to hand becuase my chosen synthesis was from napthalene to a-nitronapthalene, to 3-nitropthallic acid. If its a nitro group on the napthalene its the oppasit ring thats broken by oxidation, if its reduced to amine first, the amine ring is the one that goes. I wasnt able to find a reasonable method for making hydrazine hydrate though, so I never finished the attempt. The synth Id use from there is the huntress et al method, which currently isnt to hand either though digging up just the reference details I can do tomorrow. I was working on this some time ago, so the information will be buiried. 30% peroxide and conc hyperchlorite solution when mixed produces volumes of oxygen in the singlet excited state. This forms an excited dimer (A true eximer, unlike so called eximer lasers) which decays in releasing deep red light. NIR side of visible Red. Ive tried this with 6% hydrogen peroxide and 5% hyperchlorite bleach with about 10min dark adapted eyes and saw nothing at all, but Ive talked to people that have done it with proper reagents and confirm it does work. The reaction might be a tad violent, Ive read a safer method is to bubble chlorine into alkaline peroxide solution. Luminol should be able to be made pretty cheaply with some effort, the oxalate esters are rather more spectacular and should be synthasisable in an advanced home lab, they also have spectacular street prices. I seem to recall another thread with slightly more information on those. ______________________________________________ LUMINOL SYNTHESIS In a big test tube (20x150 mm) heat 1g 3-nitro-phtalic acid and 2 cm3 8% hidrazin solution, till the solid material dissolves. Add 3 cm3 triethylen-glycol, and fix the test tube in a vertical position above the flame. Insert a thermomether, and a glass tube, which is connected to a vacumpump. Boil the solution (110-130 deg. C), and distill the water down. Let the temperature rise fast (in 3-4 minutes) to 215 deg. C. Take away the flame under the test tube, check the time, and for 2 minutes hold the temperature between 215 and 220 deg. C with heating occasionally. Take out the suction pipe, and allow the liquid to cool down to 100 deg. C. (sometimes crystals of the product precipitate) Bring 15cm3 dest. water to boil, and add to the solution. Cool it down under the tap, and filter the yellow product. The dry weight of the product should be about 2,7g, but you needn't dry it. Put the yellow crystals to the test tube (don't wash it after the first reaction). Add 5 cm3 10% NaOH solution, and 3g NaHSO3.2H2O. Boil the solution for 5 minutes (somethimes the product precipitates). Add 2 cm3 acetic acid, cool under the tap, and filter out the luminol. Let the liquid stand for the night, next morning an other fraction of crystals (.1-.2g)should precipitate. The dry weight of the first precipitated luminol should be about .2-.3g. Dissolve this in 10 cm3 10% NaOH solution, and add 90 cm3 water. This is A solution. B solution: mix 20 cm3 3% K3[Fe(CN)6] solution with 20 cm3 3% H2O2 and 160 cm3 water. To 25cm3 A solution add 175 cm3 water, and in a drak place pour this solution with B solution to a big erlenmeyer flask. Shake the flask, and add some lye to increase the brillance. fom Louis F. Fieser: Organic Experiments, translated by deezs ______________________________________________________ A Cyalume lightstick is made of a flexible plastic tube containing a thin-walled glass tube. Inside the glass tube is a solution of hydrogen peroxide, H2O2, dissolved in a phthalic ester. Outside the glass tube is a solution containing a phenyl oxalate ester and a fluorescent dye. (In the yellow-green lightsticks the dye is 9,10-bis(phenylethynyl)anthracene.) When the lightstick is bent, the thin-walled glass tube breaks and its contents mix with the solution outside. Then, the H2O2 reacts with the phenyl oxalate ester: During the reaction, an intermediate forms that transfers energy to the dye molecules. The energized dye molecules release this energy as visible light. The process in which energy from a chemical reaction is released directly as light is called chemiluminescence __________________________________________________________ lowstick Ingredients This is information about how a Glowstick works and the ingredients which make up the glowstick, taken from unverified sources. Reports are that this produces rather spectacular results. Ingredients are available to the public but the dyes are quite expensive. The following information is provided as is and has not been tested or verified I assume no responsibility for the accuracy or the use of this information.Dye Ingredients: Green - 9,10-bis(phenylethynyl)anthracene (BPEA) [10075-85-1] Blue - 9,10-diphenylanthracene (DPA) [1499-10-1] Red - 5,6,11,12-tetraphenylnaphthacene (rubrene) [517-51-1] Other reagents: CPPO - bis(2-carbopentyloxy-3,5,6-trichlorophenyl)oxalate [75203-51-9] Solvent - bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DOP) [117-81-7] Catalyst - sodium salicylate [54-21-7] 35% hydrogen peroxide - [7722-84-1] Instructions - Saturate solvent with dye and CPPO. Sonicate to help solvation. Start with about 50 mg dye (BPEA, DPA or rubrene) in 10 g solvent with 50 mg CPPO and 5 mg sodium salicylate. CPPO is limiting reagent. Put small quantity about a teaspoon full in a small vial and add equal volume of hydrogen peroxide. Mix vigorously. There will be two phases. Avoid skin contact! Don’t cap tightly! The oxidant is hydrogen peroxide ( found at chemists as an antiseptic) contained in a phthalate ester solvent. The concentration is very low, less than 0.5%. The fluorescing solution consists of a phenyl oxalate ester and a fluorescent dye. The dye used is one listed above. The hydrogen peroxide oxidizes the phenyl oxalate ester to a peroxyacid ester and phenol. The unstable peroxyacid ester decomposes to the cyclic peroxy compound and more phenol in step The cyclic peroxy compound is again unstable and gives off energy to the dye as it decomposes to the very stable carbon dioxide. The dye then radiates this energy as light. An alternative chemiluminescence demonstration involves the H2O2 oxidation of lucigenin ( bis-N-methylacridinium nitrate [2315-97-1] Aldrich B4,920-3 ), which has recently been modified to provide a slow colour change across the visible spectrum [2]. One of the reagents in that lucigenin oxidation ( Rhodamine B ) is a mutagen and suspected carcinogen, so careful handling is strongly advised. If anyone understands this and makes there own glowstick liquid let me know how the results turn out. After all that though unless you need it for other reasons. I think it is simpler to just to use glowsticks. If you want to try it in different vessels do what I do and cut the top of and pour the liquid into what ever you are using the glowstick liquid starts getting thicker, the more it exposed to the atmosphere and can be extremely difficult to remove, if left to harden . if you pour the glowstick liquid on clothes it is very difficult to remove as the person who asked how do i get glowstick stains out of my white leather Jordan XIII. The only advice I can give is what I have used for getting oil out of Clothes, a full tin of white Gloss paint out of a brown carpet I know these are oil based products but the glowstick acts like an oil and what I use is ordinary washing up liquid. You need to put a small amount of the washing up liquid on the glowstick liquid to start breaking it up, then start agitating the area, then very slowly drop by drop add water, agitate drop of water agitate, water and so on. The chemicals in washing up liquid don’t start becoming active until water is added, What ever you do don’t put water on the liquid it will seal it to the material and you will be very lucky if you get the stain out, this is why you have to add the water slowly “Caution” this method could cause some lightning of the colour of the material. More Advice on Glowstick ingredients. There is a fair bit of useful and reliable information at http://www.dti.gov.uk/homesafetynetwork/pdf/flouresc.pdf Things that the government document doesn't make all that clear: the fluorescent chemicals are based on a very toxic chemical called anthracene and the hydrogen peroxide is a powerful bleach. It does point out however that they are there in very small amounts so they