batsman
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Help with chemicals. Basic inventory, and synthesis.
Hey, i am going to get some chemicals sometime in the near future, and i need a little bit help with it i think. So i would like to know which
chemicals you think you always should have home and easy access to? Chems that you often use.
I am going to start building my lab soon, but i don´t have any experience in that department. So i was thinking that i would get some practice for
some time doing simple extractions, recrystallization and stuff like that before i can get into the more heavy stuff.
I few days ago i bought a book called "Organic Synthesis; the disconnection approach" by Stuart Warren and Paul Wyatt.
Im reading it right now, and it is very challenging, but at the same time it is really fun and i am learning one hell of a lot. I am on wikipedia
every two minutes. 
As you probably already understand, i don´t have a degree. I am just a hobbyist with a burning interest.
Here i have a list that a member on another forum posted. It is common compounds that he thought was the most usefull for him.
Ether,
Chloroform,
Formic Acid,
Allyl Alcohol,
Methylene Chloride,
Toulene,
Ethanol,
Hydrobromic Acid,
Hydrogen Choride Gas,
Hydrogen Iodide,
Chlorine,
Acetic Anhydride,
Acetic Acid,
Ammonia.
There are many more chems that i would like to add to this list, that i can´t come to think of right now. So if you would like to a
I want to know what chemicals to get, and what not to get. I am interested in getting the precursors to those i wrote, and probably in some cases
maybe the precursors to them too.
I would be very greatful if you would take your time to help me out, and if you have any books that you would like to recommend me.
Have a great day. /H.
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plante1999
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"
Ether,
Chloroform,
Formic Acid,
Allyl Alcohol,
Methylene Chloride,
Toulene,
Ethanol,
Hydrobromic Acid,
Hydrogen Choride Gas,
Hydrogen Iodide,
Chlorine,
Acetic Anhydride,
Acetic Acid,
Ammonia.
"
Looks like a drug cook most useful chems...
It depend on the type of chemistry you want to do.
I never asked for this.
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sargent1015
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A little help
Quote: Originally posted by batsman  |
I would be very greatful if you would take your time to help me out, and if you have any books that you would like to recommend me.
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Sure I'll help you out. Firstly, look at this stickied thread for common chemicals in OTC products: http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=3254
Getting more specific with helping:
Ether: Fun (and quite hazardous) synthesis from ethanol
Chloroform: Also a fun synthesis with plenty of YouTube videos to help you out
Formic Acid: Might have to buy this stuff or isolate it from many bees (Being humorous, not at all serious)
allyl alcohol: Not sure how easy something like this is to obtain for an amateur, but is quite useful for many organic projects
methylene chloride or dichloromethane (DCM): can be distilled from some paint strippers, several threads about this is on SM
Toluene: Getting harder to find, but is a paint stripper as well
Ethanol: If you are of age, grain alcohol (190 proof), if not, have your parents get you some 
Hydrobromic Acid: You can synthesize this with acid and sodium bromide (obtained from pool suppliers)
Hydrogen Chloride Gas: You can generate this in situ for whatever reactions you need it for
Hydrogen Iodide: Not positive right now, but I think also generatable for immediate use.
Chlorine: Also generatable
Acetic Anhydride: This one is going to be a little bit tougher to find
Acetic Acid: White vinegar from the grocery store
Ammonia: You can also find this from any local store as a cleaning product
Out of curiosity, are you more organic focused when looking for chemicals or would you be interested in inorganic as well? There are plenty of goods
to satisfy your needs either way.
I would also recommend:
Methanol: wood alcohol
All of the basic acids: sulphuric, hydrochloric, etc.
Potassium permanganate: Powerful oxidizer and great for TLC staining
Magnesium sulfate: for drying (epsom salts)
And I am out of ideas for right now, good luck my friend! Welcome to the greatest hobby of all! 
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sargent1015
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Aw man, if I am helping enable cookery... 
Exactly, be a little bit more specific and we can help you out
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adamsium
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Woelen's site is a very useful resource and you will find it helpful in getting started: http://woelen.homescience.net/science/chem/index.html
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Magpie
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Choose experiments. Not chemicals -- or equipment.
Otherwise you just become a collector, not a chemist.
When you choose experiments what to buy for chemicals and equipment will fall right out. 
The single most important condition for a successful synthesis is good mixing - Nicodem
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batsman
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Hey, guys. Thanx sargent for the feedback. And no, you are not enableing any bad stuff. I am just new to this, and i really don´t know where to start. What i want to do the most it is pharmaceutical chemistry, but it it a
long road until i can start. I am going to school now, and hopefully i will be accepted into school (like college, but a little bit "higher up" on the
ladder) and read organic or bio chemistry.
Im not some punk who seen breaking bad on tv and decide that he wants to also make drugs. I have read Pihkal, and i find it very interesting, but i
can bet many of you also have it at home on the wall.
I hope i didnt do anything wrong. I like this forum very much, and i dont want to be banned ir anything. :/
What i wanted to know if i needed to get some everyday chemicals thats good to always have home.
Magpie: You are a wise man. I know of a couple that i want to try. Ofcourse the
coffee extraction, and crystallization. Then also i was watching some guy called "Nurd Rage" on youtube that makes alot of different experiments.
"how to make potassium nitrate" and How to make "sodium nitrate" These kinds of experiments is what i want to do.
Thanx to adamsium also for the link. I will check it out right away.
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bfesser
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Thread Pruned
7-7-2013 at 14:23 |
kt5000
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| Quote: Originally posted by batsman | | Then also i was watching some guy called "Nurd Rage" on youtube that makes alot of different experiments. "how to make potassium nitrate" and How to
make "sodium nitrate" These kinds of experiments is what i want to do. |
Nurd Rage is awesome.
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stoichiometric_steve
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funny guy, says he wants to start out with "pharmaceutical chemistry" and sells obvious drug precursors on this forum.
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chemrox
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Looks like a list of basic chemicals. You don't need to waste a lot of money on mineral acid gasses as these can be made in the lab as needed. You
need good ventilation. I had a portable patio lab bench made from a discarded cabinet and pvc plumbing I used for obnoxious experiments until I found
a decent lab-office combination. Used hoods are cheap. Installing them can be another thing. I resent the accusations, imputations, implications of
"drug cookery.." in this forum which has origins in The Hive and other nearby sources.
Magpie is absolutely right, of course. However, whatever you do you will want solvents, HCl and NaOH. Na2CO3 is also needed for many applications
and was OTC until the war on chemistry. Still commercial "washing soda" might be available.
[Edited on 30-10-2013 by chemrox]
"When you let the dumbasses vote you end up with populism followed by autocracy and getting back is a bitch." Plato (sort of)
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The_Davster
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| Quote: Originally posted by batsman |
Ether,
Chloroform,
Formic Acid,
Allyl Alcohol,
Methylene Chloride,
Toulene,
Ethanol,
Hydrobromic Acid,
Hydrogen Choride Gas,
Hydrogen Iodide,
Chlorine,
Acetic Anhydride,
Acetic Acid,
Ammonia.
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I would consider any real lab poorly equipped if they did not have most of those, but HI, allyl alcohol, and HCl gas are not really needed. The first
and last can be made when needed, and unless you have a specific project in mind, allyl alcohol is unnecessary as a general reagent.
You will need all the mineral acids H2SO4, HCl, HNO3, HClO4
Basic (heh, pun) bases NaOH, KOH, aq ammonia, sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate. Probably a buffer like sodium acetate and acid phosphate. Lots
of sodium chloride for cooling baths, probably some KCl at some point too. Drying agents like magnesium sulfate, sodium sulfate, CaCl2.
Inorganic stuff like copper sulfate metal salts and waaay waaay more stuff here...some oxidizers like KMnO4, MnO2, NaOCl.
But really it makes more sense to have an idea of what sort of experiments you want to do and get the chemicals as you need them instead of sitting in
a well-stocked lab playing chemist and having no idea what to do with them. Cheaper too.
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BlackDragon2712
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I love ethyl acetate for extraction and as a solvent, it's just so easy and safe to work with it! Also, if you are serious into chemistry then you'll
need lots of reagents for testing like KI, ZnCl2/HCl, AgNO3, etc.
I have 5 liters of household vinegar and a concentrated solution of NaHCO3 always close to me if any accident occurs.
H3PO4, H2SO4, HNO3, HCl (HI can be prepared when you need it) are good minerals acid to start with.
KMnO4, K2Cr2O7, NaOCl, CuO, H2O2, etc, are pretty useful oxidizing agents.
NaOH, KOH, Ba(OH)2 are examples of important bases in a lab
salts like CuSO4, FeCl3, AlCl3, ZnCl2, HgCl2, MgSO4, CaCl2, KI, NaBr, KNO3, NaHSO3, NaHSO4, AgNo3, S, Na (metallic), Mg (metallic), etc etc are good
things to have in mind, though most of inorganic salts are synthesized when you need them.
Oxalic acid, Formic acid, Acetic acid, Salicylic acid, Benzoic acid, Citric acid, Phenol, etc are usefull organic acids
where 99%ethanol, methanol, isopropanol, hexanes, toluene, ethyl acetate, ether, kerosene, acetone, MEK, THF, 1-Butanol, Chloroform, Methylene
Chloride, Carbon disulfide (if you can stand that hell of an odor), Iodo methane, Acetonitrile, etttttttttcccccccc are solvents (except for the MeI
xd) that are good to have in handy.
But again, it only depends on what the hell you want to do! Chemicals tend to decompose, for example, HI you only prepare it when you need to use it,
if you try to store it you'll end up with a mess full of iodine, that happened to me with the MeI, it slowly decomposed to a black solution of
suspended iodine. Also it would be a nice idea to tell us about which one of these chemicals you have acces and which ones you don't have acces. Also
it would be a good idea to start thinking about security, not to be a walking msds but in a lab there are some things that can kill you faster than
you think
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batsman
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Hi, guys. I have read throught this thread, a few months after posting it. And i feel like i need to let you know that when i posted it i didn´t
really knew about these chems, and what they are used for.
I just thought that they were chemicals that you use on a regular basis. I feel really bad, and i don´t want ppl to get the wrong picture.
Like i told chemrox, i feel like i have made great progress in understanding chemistry better since a few months back, thanks to sciencemadness-forum
mostly. I hope you know what i mean.
And i know that it looks bad when i read posts i made in the past, but it is due to that im not as "skilled" as most of you guys here, and i haven´t
really fully grasped chemistry, if you know what i mean?
I had my "base", or i started out my interest in organic chemistry throught Nootropics, and then with reading Pihkal, and i think that it resulted in
different chems, like allyl alcohol got firmiliar to me, and that it was kind of a centerpiece-chem.
I can just say it and i hope you belive me that im not here to learn to "cook", and that i have a genuine intrerest in chemistry.
Have a great day guys!
[Edited on 8-11-2013 by batsman]
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zenosx
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Only seen it mentioned once, everything else is pretty much what I have acquired over time.
#1 solvent only mentioned once for me is acetone. It's great for removing water from flasks and will usually clean out most gunk.
I save all my acetone/solvents in appropriate waste containers and distill them when I get about 500mL or so. A container from ACE hardware lasts me a
long time by recycling solvents.
A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?
Albert Einstein
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Zyklon-A
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You should get H2SO4, it is more importent than alot of the other things on that list.
Also, glassware is must, and you should buy KNO3 instead of making it from cold packs (it's much cheaper),unless you are doing it to explore the
chemistry.
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zed
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Duck soup! But nowadays, some things are tough to buy.
Hydrobromic Acid....You will probably have to make your own.
Hydrogen Chloride Gas....Everybody makes their own as needed.
Hydrogen Iodide....Sales are restricted in the U.S.. Probably have to make your own.
Chlorine....Make it as needed.
Acetic Anhydride.....Might, or might not, be easy to obtain. You can make your own, but it entails a certain amount of danger.
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Zyklon-A
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| Quote: Originally posted by zed | Duck soup! But nowadays, some things are tough to buy.
Hydrobromic Acid....You will probably have to make your own.
Hydrogen Chloride Gas....Everybody makes their own as needed.
Hydrogen Iodide....Sales are restricted in the U.S.. Probably have to make your own.
Chlorine....Make it as needed.
Acetic Anhydride.....Might, or might not, be easy to obtain. You can make your own, but it entails a certain amount of danger.
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Making Acetic Anhydride would be very hard, almost impossible without a lot of expensive apparatus that would not be useful for many other things.
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bfesser
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<strong><a href="viewthread.php?tid=9">Acetic anhydride preparation</a></strong>
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