brocklee - 16-8-2011 at 20:57
hoping for some help with making a medium sized list of chemicals every chemist should know about.
i'm not talking elemental or remedial (eg carbon, NaCl) but maybe useful stuff like DMSO and silver nitrate.
to start it off:
DCM
chloroform
the strong acids
ethers
sodium hypochlorite
(hope this goes well)
Phthalic Acid - 16-8-2011 at 23:08
Organic solvents. Toluene, xylene, benzene, chloroform, hexane etc.
Retard-3000 - 16-8-2011 at 23:42
LiAlH4
NaBH4
walkingreject - 17-8-2011 at 01:43
Copper (II) Sulfate Pentahydrate is always useful.
One of my personal favorites is KMnO4.
Retard-3000 - 17-8-2011 at 02:02
Also:
K2Cr2O7
NaOH
KOH
(Mono, Di, Tri) Methylamine
(Mono, Di, Tri) Ethylamine
Alkyl Halides
Drying Agents (MgSO4, CaCl2 etc)
redox - 17-8-2011 at 04:32
Acetone
Methyl Ethyl Ketone
Formaldehyde
Carboxylic Acids
And all chemists should be aware of the dangers or and take special precautions for:
Hydrogen Sulfide
Hydrogen Cyanide
Phosgene
Fluorine
Chlorine
Bromine
Hydrogen Fluoride
Hydrogen Chloride
Hydrogen Bromide
Hydrogen Iodide
Nitrogen Dioxide
Sulfur Dioxide
White Yeti - 17-8-2011 at 11:35
People often forget about weak acids:
aceitic acid
phosphoric acid
citric acid
oxalic acid
Not to mention:
H2O2
ozone
sodium hypochlorite
chlorates
perchlorates
The list goes on and on....
brocklee - 17-8-2011 at 19:45
Thanks for the replies. I knew that the list was likely unending but I just never want to be in the situation where I don't know about a common
chemical that I should.
looks like I have some homework 
White Yeti - 17-8-2011 at 23:36
You might also want to specify what kind of "chemist" is in question. Organic chemist, inorganic, polymer, industrial, analytical, biochemist. All of
these should be familiar with different chemicals.
Bezaleel - 18-8-2011 at 09:39
For inorganic reactions:
Ba(NO3)2 or BaCl2
AgNO3
woelen - 18-8-2011 at 22:37
You cannot say what is important and what not. E.g. in the previous post you mention Ba(NO3)2 and BaCl2 and AgNO3. I can say that in the last 5 years
I used less than 100 mg of AgNO3, hardly any Ba(NO3)2 and virtually no BaCl2 (although just for fun I made some BaCl2).
It totally depends on the kind of chemistry you are doing. An answer to 'what chemicals should you be familiar with?' can only be very broad and vague
when no further information is given. A probable answer could be:
- acids, properties of them, notion of weak and strong acids
- bases, properties of them, notion of weak and strong bases
- oxidizers
- reductors
- solvents (polar, non-polar)
AJKOER - 20-8-2011 at 07:44
Here is a list of some of my favorites:
Bleach + Vinegar yields Hypochlorous acid (HClO, a good oxidizer) and Sodium acetate. Add Iron (Fe), for example, yields Ferric salts (Ferric Chloride
and Ferric acetate).
OxiClean is Sodium percarbonate, a mixed salt (2Na2CO3. 3H2O2) , a strong oxidizer.
Silver Coins/Sterling Silver is a elemental source of Silver, which with H2O2 and vinegar can produce silver acetate. Adding a base yields Ag2O. Also,
Ag2O + 2 HClO--> AgCl (s) + AgClO3.
Lite Salt (or no salt) contains KCl ( AgClO3 + KCl --> AgCl (s) + KClO3 ).
NaHSO4 is available as a pH control agent for a Spa. A fair (and safer) H2SO4 substitute.
Mildronate - 20-8-2011 at 12:59
h2SO4 (most important to me), HNO3, HCl, alakli metals salts and bases, NaOH, KOH, amonia, destilated water, potasium perganae, solvents, magnesium,
sodium and many organic reagents.