I just wanted to let you all know that I spent $150 plus shipping on 500ml of Acetophenone from Art Chemicals to perform a decarboxylation of
5-hydroxytryptophan to yield Serotonin. I'm not a stranger to decarboxylations. Anyways, I noticed that when I brought my reaction mix to reflux the
flask was only partially hot. Indeed, I could touch it with my hand. Acetophenone has a BP of 202 C. This clearly wasn't that hot. I let the reaction
run, which releases Carbon Dioxide within 10 minutes of reflux. No CO2 evolved. I let the reaction go for 3+ hours. Still nothing.
I went ahead next and simply tested the boiling point of the supposed Acetophenone, and it boiled at 53 C -- WAY off the mark! I also noticed that the
chem smelled strongly like Glacial Acetic Acid. I contacted Art Chemicals to tell them that they sold me some other chemical, and they told me that
there was no way this could have possibly happened. They said they wouldn't give me a refund or let me exchange it for a new product. Total BS. Don't
give Art Chemicals your money. They will rip you off and give you some random chemical in place of the one you ordered. Absolutely downright horrible
customer service, they have!
I hope you all learn from this story.mnick12 - 19-8-2010 at 16:00
Ahhh I almost expected this. I have been looking at their site, and a few things jumped out at me. They have WAY to many chemicals for the size of
their business, the other thing was their prices which are absolutely absurd. The final thing was they carry quite a few restricted items, including
some chemicals regulated under the chemical weapons convention, the phosphorus chlorides.
Thats a shame you lost your money, but if you want I could U2U you a much cheaper source of acetophenone. 497 - 19-8-2010 at 16:45
I have ordered from them before and it came through okay. But I agree their site looks pretty disorganized and its not too surprising that they
screwed something up. Doubt it was intentional though, I wouldn't go so far as to call it fraud..zed - 19-8-2010 at 18:35
No problem if you paid by credit card. Call your card company and refuse the charge.
The supplier doesn't have to take your stuff back, but they might as well. They won't be getting paid for it.woelen - 19-8-2010 at 22:52
I'm almost 100% sure that your chemical is acetyl chloride, CH3COCl. This has a boiling point of 52 C according to literature. It has a very strong
smell of acetic acid and fumes somewhat in contact with air. I have some of this liquid and it perfectly matches what you write.devongrrl - 20-8-2010 at 02:12
One of the links on the site is "Recipes" but links to a number of syntheses.
Obviously the person who created this site is NOT a chemist.
DDTea - 20-8-2010 at 04:50
What you should do is test all chemicals on arrival--boiling/melting point, refractive index at minimum. If you're not doing analytical work, just
checking physical properties should suffice. This would be worthwhile; that way, if there is a company willing to take orders back, then you haven't
used a large chunk of reagent--or wasted your own time.
This is how it's done in industry at least. In industry, though, the personal who ships the chemical pays to ship it back if they send a bad batch.
Also, this sounds like it could have put you at undue risk. If a chemical is mislabeled or stored improperly, that could lead to disaster. Imagine
if they mix up say, Hydrochloric and Hydrofluoric acids!woelen - 20-8-2010 at 13:34
I also once had a wrong chemical delivered. I ordered 250 grams of barium nitrate and I received 500 grams of potassium bromate.
I noticed this because I wanted to use the barium nitrate for a test for sulfate and I did not get a precipitate at all. On the other hand,
hydrochloric acid gave vigorous bubbling of chlorine gas and some yellow color. I then have done many other tests and concluded the unknown material
(labeled as barium nitrate) is KBrO3. I was really angry, because such a change indeed can be very riskful. The money was refunded, I never received
any bariumnitrate but the seller told me to keep the potassium bromate.peach - 20-8-2010 at 15:14
W
In industry, though, the personal who ships the chemical pays to ship it back if they send a bad batch.
That's part of the Sale of Goods act in the UK, which doesn't apply in this example, but it's a useful thing to know for UKerians. If you buy it and
it's not correct, they refund it all and have to recover the item. It gets even more fun if you've bought it over the internet, as you have two weeks
to assess it and then reject it if it doesn't meet the standards you expected (Distance Selling act); since you can't fully assess it in person until
it arrives (it's not like being able to go into a shop and have a look). If they don't tell you, specifically, that you have the right to do this and
not pay to send it back, it's extended to months (as an incentive to encourage fair trade). People like QVC quote this like it's additional feature of
their distance selling method when, in reality, they're doing it block you from posting it back a month later saying "it's a piece of shit". In 'card
order' stores here, they'll show you the items before bagging them and ask "that's right?" meaning "you're agreeing you've inspected the goods". Same
as signing for a delivery. I took someone to court over the Distance Selling act, and then had them give me £50 extra, on top of the deliveries and
court fees, for wasting my time. The judge even asked me if there was anything
else I could think of charging them for.
The level of oddness being described with regards to these guys is odd.
I too have noticed the ergotamine and what not on their site; I seriously doubt they have the paperwork to hold that kind of thing, or even be
involved in trading it. They also refused to ship me some very basic, harmless materials, like cyclohexane.
I'd be curious to know what the bottles looked like that these turned up in. Can you fire up the magic picture box?
[Edited on 20-8-2010 by peach]Magic Muzzlet - 20-8-2010 at 17:17
I would just like to say that I have ordered from artchemicals before, 2 items from their spectrum listing. Besides the stupidly high pricing
everything was fine, the bottles were spectrum brand glass bottles as expected. I wont be ordering again though as there are much better/cheaper
sources out there for basically everything they can offer.DDTea - 20-8-2010 at 17:26
I don't understand why their prices are so incredibly high for something as trivial as technical grade NaCl! They must really think they've got the
market cornered.
In any case, Polyatomic, here's how I'd go forward. Since they are denying that there is a problem and are refusing to acknowledge your complaint
over an issue that could potentially be very serious, you ought to be very formal about it.
First of all, if you did order my credit card, call your card company and refuse the charge as Zed said. Secondly, write them a letter. It should
include the date of the order, your order number, a receipt/packing slip if you have it (make photocopies), and the nature of your complaint. Send to
to all of the company's big-wigs. Furthermore, you should Fed-Ex it; make them sign for it upon receipt--that way you KNOW it will not be going into
a trash-bin right away. Then, call a few days later to make sure they received it (if you have not already received a reply). Maybe include a veiled
threat in the letter about possible legal action if they do not properly resolve this issue.
This company seems extremely unprofessional. Nothing gives you a crash-course in professionalism like paying for damages.piracetam - 23-8-2010 at 08:38
why acetophenone? just reflux with mineral oil under a stream of nitrogen.
works with tryptophan.
once got tech grade nitric from AC, they're not bogus.
The judge even asked me if there was anything
else I could think of charging them for.