On a small chem forum I used to frequent, we had a thread like this and it went on quite pleasantly for some time. No need to post finished preps, or
even particularly interesting preps. Pictures welcome of course. What chem projects are you working on?
A lot of users probably never post because they feel they are doing inconsequential things. Sometimes a writeup comes from a completely unexpected
source since they've been keeping quiet about most of their work. I'd like to see how active our users are on a general basis.
I myself have a bad habit of working on a dozen things at once. I've got "fractionated coconut oil" biodiesel that I intend to vacuum fractionate for
it's methyl octanoate, decanoate, and laurate content. The octanoate is of particular interest, as a bouvealt-blanc reduction will give octyl alcohol.
Octyl acetate is an important fragrance/flavor compound. The biodiesel itself smells from the volatile medium-chain fatty acid methyl esters. While
the parent oil was odorless, it smells like coconut mixed with watermelon jolly ranchers.
I'm also getting back into my synthesis of capsaicin. I have everything to make the necessary vanillylamine.
My dessicator contains caffeine methiodide (1,3,7,9-tetramethylxanthinium iodide). In the presence of base, this can form an N-heterocyclic carbene
and metal complexes. I made it with the hope that it serves as an efficient and nontoxic catalyst for the benzoin condensation
The dessicator also contains alpha-ketoglutaric acid phenylhydrazone. This, subject to Fischer indole synthesis conditions, gives a product that
through decarboxylation furnishes indole-3-acetic acid, a plant auxin.
I am also trying to work out a synthesis route for the vanillyl analogue of piperine in hopes that it is a more powerful TRPV1 agonist than the parent
compound. Potential scheme attached.
arkoma - 14-7-2014 at 17:46
At the moment, dry isopropanol. Yesterday I managed to get about a gram and a half of raw clove oil out of 24 grams whole cloves. Time well wasted
LOLMetacelsus - 14-7-2014 at 18:37
I currently have two projects: an induction heater (ZVS topology) and a manganese ammonium sulfate cell for the electrolytic oxidation of toluene to
benzaldehyde.UnintentionalChaos - 14-7-2014 at 20:34
At the moment, dry isopropanol. Yesterday I managed to get about a gram and a half of raw clove oil out of 24 grams whole cloves. Time well wasted
LOL
That's actually not terribad for yield. Did you extract the distillate with DCM or hexane or something?Brain&Force - 14-7-2014 at 20:45
Currently I have no lab, but I have several projects planned for the future. This is the biggest one, but I also want to work a far more advance subject - separation of lanthanides using ammonium citrate and
nitrilotriacetic acid (I've read a few things about this) and thermiting/electrolyzing them into the pure metal.
I also might attempt to work out electrolysis of anhydrous metal salts in ionic liquids.violet sin - 14-7-2014 at 21:16
Brain&Force: NO LAB? for why? I am just about 200mi from mine, but it still exists.
last time I was working there( not just cleaning old projects and recrystallizing), was starting a steam generator for plant essence distillation.
there was some work with small scale sulfamic acid electrolysis experiments: 1) stripping PCB boards, 2) silver plating experiments 3) cupronickel
separation of Ni. and finally extracting the UV active plant dye in osage orange wood/bark.Brain&Force - 14-7-2014 at 21:18
I live on a military base. And I'm holding out for university in ~3 months.prof_genius - 14-7-2014 at 21:44
Im on vacation in Australia, I will probably resume work on copper compounds when I get back.violet sin - 14-7-2014 at 21:51
gotcha, ok that makes sense. a lot to look forward to soon, nice. for me, it's not too bad while away, with all the interesting things to read up on
here to help or just join in a discussion. its nice to get to experiment, though just reading can be a worthwhile fill in short term.
the ionic liquid electrolysis has caught my attention a few times also. haven't tried it yet.arkoma - 15-7-2014 at 04:55
3-nitro-4-aminofurazan + NH2OH-HCl (basify to precip.) -->
HAANF
The biggest issue so far has been sourcing glyoxal. I prefer to start with ethanol and oxidize half with cheap HNO3 to minimize the use of expensive
dichromate, rather than go the 1,2-ethanediol/dichromate route.
Alternatively, I would begin with OTC 1,2-ethanediol and dehydrogenate right to glyoxal at 450C over a copper catalyst. I am currently designing an
apparatus for this, since it would mean an unlimited cheap source of formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and glyoxal. This would also make a total OTC
pentaerythritol synthesis trivial, and I could possibly sell small amounts.
Anyway, the reason I want to try HAANF is because, to my knowledge, it is the most powerful chemical explosive synthesized in gram
amounts with reported sensitivity data. A paper I have shows a VoD of 10,010 m/s @ 1.89 g/ml, with a Pcj of 478 kbar. Compare to HMX at 9059 m/s @
1.92 g/ml and 392 kbar and CL-20 with 9342 m/s @ 2.04 g/ml and 446 kbar. It is also less sensitive than RDX in friction, shock, and static.
Just so I can say that I did it.
My other pet project is triaminoguanidinium bis(2,2-dinitroethyl)nitramine. I won't get into synth details but it's pretty straightforward. Klapötke
says 10,004 m/s @ 1.99 g/ml and 462 kbar with good sensitivity.
[Edited on 15-7-2014 by Praxichys]UnintentionalChaos - 15-7-2014 at 06:46
Use MEK instead of acetone. The oxime seperates readily as a liquid (in okayish yield) and has reduced volatility. If you haven't run the prep yet,
know that the distillation with HCl has to be agonizingly slow or the oxime itself distills. Oximes are something like 1000 fold more stable to
hydrolysis compared to azines/hydrazones.
Hydroxylammonium chloride forms huge, beautiful crystals though, so the hours of frustration will at least have a redeeming ending.Praxichys - 15-7-2014 at 08:59
@ UC - thanks for the insight.
I planned to L/L extract the acetone oxime but I think you're right about the MEK being the better route. I will salt up the mother liquor to better
facilitate the phase separation.
I imagine the loss of HCl is probably the biggest problem in the distillation, since the BP of everything else is pretty high. I will probably heat
the oxime with water and excess HCl and stir overnight at about 80C, taking excess HCl and the ketone out the top of the column and forming a
concentrated hot solution of hydroxylammonium chloride in the bottom. The endpoint determination remains an issue.
The liquor will be rapidly stirred under aspirator vacuum while cooling to remove excess HCl, then stuck into the fridge for the salt to fall out of
solution. Recrystallize, etc.
Hydroxylammonium sulfate looks attractive as an alernative because I can use much higher temperatures for the hydrolysis, up to the BP of the ketoxime
(something like 152C for MEKO). I just don't know how this is going to interfere with the extraction of diaminoglyoxime since sodium sulfate is much
less soluble then sodium chloride. There is some research yet to do.
I am also excited to see if, in parallel to Axt's metal glyoximates, whether diaminoglyoximates can also be formed. (Carefully...)
