Sciencemadness Discussion Board

TIL from "OTC purism"

Cou - 14-9-2015 at 14:08

In the ##chemistry channel on freenode IRC, I learned about the term that we should coin, called "OTC purism".

Chemistry is a science, but also a skill. Chemistry has 2 parts, experimentation (discovering new things) and processes (manufacturing with a method that has already been discovered, with mainly mechanical knowledge). There are many motivations for amateur chemistry: It's nice to be able to make your own stuff, instead of buying it. Make your own chlorine water for pools, make your own soap, make your own flavorings, make your own bromoacetone for self defense, make your own capsaicin or caffeine or vanillin extract.

For this post, I am discussing a self-experimentation in organic chemistry. Even though there are countless studies that tell how every organic molecule smells, everyone has different smell receptors, not everyone perceives the same molecule the same way, and the sense of smell is impossible to convey in words. So every time you smell a new organic molecule, be it ethyl acetate or pyridine, you are discovering something new for YOURSELF.

Now what does this have to do with OTC purism? Part of the fun of organic chemistry is the challenge; you could follow Nile Red's video to make ethyl acetate. Which is possible to do from OTC ingredients only, and by OTC I mean chemicals you can buy from lowes, pool stores, automobile shops. Part of the fun is making so many different products from only OTC ingredients. But instead of making your own ethyl acetate, you could just buy it from Elemental Scientific (they have a nice stock of organic compounds ever since BME bought them), smell it from the container, and learn what ethyl acetate smells like. But where's the fun in that?

Making chemicals and organic compounds from OTC ingredients can be a challenge with many steps, especially if you want to make elemental phosphorus. But that's better than just ordering the compound straight from Elemental.

[Edited on 14-9-2015 by Cou]

The Volatile Chemist - 14-9-2015 at 14:21

It certainly is. It is, though, necessary to purchase certain compounds. I like best when I can make something myself, or discover that gloss catalyst for spraypainting has acetoacetone in it. I know what you mean. the so-called OTC Purism is what most of this forum is about. Besides, if you can't make it through OTC purism, there has to be some other motivation. Sometimes this is 'energetic materials', which is fine. If you have a random organic chemical, and can chlorinate it, you do. But if you are going to make something for the sole purpose of making it, there would be no reason to make an obscure compound from a non OTC source.
I'd say this is more a misc. topic, but no big deal. Besides, most of my posts are in misc. anyways :/

byko3y - 14-9-2015 at 15:09

Quote:
elemental phosphorus
Challenge accepted. It's one of the most desired compounds yet hard to make.
But the problem is that information about some really important information is hidden from public. For example, preparation of thionyl chloride (VX), reactivity of sulfur chlorides (mustard), reduction with hydrogen iodide and preparation of elemental phosphorus (meth), preparation of acetic anhydride (diamorphine), preparation of anthranilic acid (methaqualone), reduction with aluminium (PEA).
Do you want to continue the list? I'd like to give you an idea. Why is toluene on the DEA list, while benzyl alcohol is not?

Cou - 14-9-2015 at 15:16

Quote: Originally posted by The Volatile Chemist  
It certainly is. It is, though, necessary to purchase certain compounds. I like best when I can make something myself, or discover that gloss catalyst for spraypainting has acetoacetone in it. I know what you mean. the so-called OTC Purism is what most of this forum is about. Besides, if you can't make it through OTC purism, there has to be some other motivation. Sometimes this is 'energetic materials', which is fine. If you have a random organic chemical, and can chlorinate it, you do. But if you are going to make something for the sole purpose of making it, there would be no reason to make an obscure compound from a non OTC source.
I'd say this is more a misc. topic, but no big deal. Besides, most of my posts are in misc. anyways :/


My motivation for making stuff is to discover the smells.