Fyndium - 4-1-2021 at 13:01
As the question stands, how is it? Some reactions take more time to prepare and measure than to actually carry out, while some needs to be ran over so
many hours you begin to think is it really even worth it. And what do you do in the meantime so that safety does not suffer?
We'll say that reactions which do not need even occasional attending do not count, so if you've been melting ice, filtering calcium sulfate solutions
or watching paint to dry, no points given.
[Edited on 4-1-2021 by Fyndium]
karlos³ - 4-1-2021 at 13:16
Substitution of 1,2-diphenylethyl tosylate with dimethylamine... was it a week or nine days, I would have to check?
But booooring.... although it worked pretty well.
Although I guess it falls under your definition of not needing occasional attending.
DraconicAcid - 4-1-2021 at 13:42
Not done at home, but the 2nd year phys chem experiment of bomb calorimetry. You press a button, then nothing happens apart from the water bath going
up a few degrees......
ETA: Also, the 4th-year determination of the triple point of argon. Could only barely see it, and after having seen benzene solidify during vacuum
removal of solvent, there wasn't anything fascinating in it.
[Edited on 4-1-2021 by DraconicAcid]
unionised - 4-1-2021 at 13:54
As a student I prepared bis toluene chromium.
An absurd procedure that sublimed chromium at about 1200C and froze toluene in the same (largely evacuated) container.
This essentially mean that my lab-partner and I walked back and to pouring liquid nitrogen into a bath round a 1200 watt furnace for about 5 hours.
(seemed longer)
Yield wasn't great either.
Dr.Bob - 7-1-2021 at 19:13
I had a reaction to put a benzyl group on hindered amine that took about 5 days, so I ran it once as I left for a vacation, and just let it stir for a
week. I have always liked having multiple reaction sequesnces running, so rather than try to push a reaction to go faster, I could just let it stir
and move to another project for a while, as time will make nearly any reaction go to completion, even without an excess of one reagent to drive it, as
long as you give the molecules time to find their mate.
aromaticfanatic - 7-1-2021 at 23:39
Mine is nowhere near as bad as others but the nitration of toluene was notably my most boring and drawn out reaction. I never leave reactions alone
(if I can help it, sometimes I need to go grab something of course) and it was already late and cold outside. I was up from 8PM to 4AM running the
reaction and cleaning up. Hated it and never want to do it again. I designed my next synthesis to specifically not include nitrotoluenes just because
I hate them so much from just this one incident. It doesn't sound like it was a long time but when you are outside dressed up with the PPE looking all
goofy, with nothing to do, it's cold, a load of acid being added drop by drop seemingly not even dropping in volume, and already being super late in
the night (I made sure I wasn't tired and inattentive of course), things get pretty boring and seemingly take forever.
Shiva_Inorganic - 8-1-2021 at 23:06
The reaction between Magnesium metal and a fairly strong Boric acid solution. Mg dissolves very slowly even in boiling Boric acid solution. It may
take hours to dissolve in it completely. Sometimes the reaction dies down. You will fall asleep before that anyway :p
Shiva Chemist