Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Rare chemicals

oldirty - 6-4-2011 at 01:28

I'm looking for place to buy rare chemicals problem is I don't own any company/firm .
I tried to buy from Sigma-aldrich they told me they won't sell me unless I own an company.
Any suggestions where can I purchase rare chemicals ?
p.s. I live in Lithuania
p.s.2. sorry for my English I know it's not perfect

woelen - 6-4-2011 at 04:19

This is your first post and normally this kind of questions is somewhat frowned upon. There are too many cooks and kewls out there and frequently people have a certain positing history before they ask about where to purchase all kinds of chemicals.

There are quite a few places where you can buy interesting chemicals, also if you don't have a company. But please elaborate a little more on what you want and tell a little more about yourself. I might be willing to share a few sources with you for interesting chemicals, but before I do so I want to have an idea about your intents.

Contrabasso - 6-4-2011 at 10:18

Really depends on your meaning of "interesting" and "rare"!

In western Europe, most of our odder chemicals seem to come from the eastern side of Europe, and from countries with a border onto "Russia" (by whatever the correct modern name). Poland, Lithuania and Latvia all seem to have a few suppliers who ship westwards for money. Whether these are items leaking out of ex-soviet factories who really knows.

First look locally! Search Ebay for your wants, if the vendor is in your country then a message in your language should get a good reply.

Your own English is fine!

oldirty - 7-4-2011 at 02:44

I know what you mean, but it's really hard for me to discuss/post about science in English,I came here to ask my question here because I heard here are very intelligent people on this forum.
I need lot of things,but say where do I get acetate ammonium and acetic acid ( ≥99.7%).
I'm not so pro and i'm only newbie in chemistry but I can't even do a simple synthesis because lack of reagents in my country available to physical person.

chemrox - 7-4-2011 at 10:32

These should be available at local scientific supply companies or I should say they are in the US. I get similar items locally for the convenience. Do you have, scientific supply stores where you are? Interesting or rare usually means obscure medicinals or rare earth metal compounds.

phlogiston - 7-4-2011 at 11:29

This is exactly why you needed to elaborate on what you needed in the first place. These chemicals are hardly rare.
The ammonium acetate is especially easy. Go to the nearest supermarket and get household ammonia and acetic acid from the cleaning section. Mix until you get a neutral solution. Evaporate, and the residue is ammonium acetate. Don't heat too much, or the ammonium acetate will sublime/decompose.

Alternatively, you can get gadgets for warming you hands in the winter that are filled with a highly concentrated ammonium acetate solution. Inside is a little curved metal item, that when clicked (bent the other way) will cause the supersaturated ammonium acetate solution to crystalize, releasing heat.
Over here, you can get those things from outdoor stores.

Picric-A - 7-4-2011 at 11:35

Quote: Originally posted by phlogiston  
This is exactly why you needed to elaborate on what you needed in the first place. These chemicals are hardly rare.
The ammonium acetate is especially easy. Go to the nearest supermarket and get household ammonia and acetic acid from the cleaning section. Mix until you get a neutral solution. Evaporate, and the residue is ammonium acetate. Don't heat too much, or the ammonium acetate will sublime/decompose.

Alternatively, you can get gadgets for warming you hands in the winter that are filled with a highly concentrated ammonium acetate solution. Inside is a little curved metal item, that when clicked (bent the other way) will cause the supersaturated ammonium acetate solution to crystalize, releasing heat.
Over here, you can get those things from outdoor stores.


Unfortunatly those hand warmers are filled with supersaturated Sodium ethanoate as opposed to ammonium ethanoate and so are not what he is looking for.

I would harldy call ammonium ethanoate rare though, it is very easily made!

oldirty - 8-4-2011 at 02:24

I know but I need them pure,and making them might not give pure as I want.
Also I need benzaldehyde but it hard to get in my country because they don't sell it in chem shops and buying over internet requires to own a company.
So any sources where can I get those and more in Lithuania for private experiments ?
p.s. sorry for my English

stateofhack - 8-4-2011 at 02:53

I know i am not the best person to say this but: benzaldehyde, ammonium acetate and acetic acid...let me guess you need some nitromethane/nitroethane too ;) bahahaha

woelen - 8-4-2011 at 03:19

If you really are a starter in the field of chemistry, then I find this combination indeed somewhat strange. Benzaldehyde certainly is not a chemical for the beginning home chemist. I can imagine that a beginning home chemist wants potassium chlorate or potassium nitrate, just for the fun of making fires, little bangs and so on, but I cannot imagine that a beginning home chemist who does not have any reagents at hand wants to start with benzaldehyde :o

So, I now even feel a stronger urge to ask for an explanation. What kind of experiments do you want to do with benzaldehyde, ammonium acetate and acetic acid? What other chemicals do you need as well?

Btw, if you make ammonium acetate from household ammonia and cleaning vinegar (white vinegar of double strength without any spices and salts and sugar added), then you certainly can obtain a clean product, which definitely will be OK for the experiments of a starting home chemist.

[Edited on 8-4-11 by woelen]

oldirty - 8-4-2011 at 05:09

I'm not completely starter I already completed alot of different experiments but i'm not like pro and not working for any company and just doing it for my own fun and interest and it makes hard to carry experiments I want without reagents I need.
Benzaldehyde but it has nothing to do with ammonium acetate and acetic acid ,I know benzaldehyde is precursor and is watched and if I would want to do something illegal I wouldn't be so stupid to ask about it over internet ..
There might be misunderstood between us because of my English.
Well I just said benzaldehyde randomly,to see what good sources I can get it from,because if I can get benzaldehyde,I can get anything I want..

kmno4 - 9-4-2011 at 01:57

Quote: Originally posted by oldirty  

So any sources where can I get those and more in Lithuania for private experiments ?

No local Lithuanian chemistry/pyro forums ? It is strange that you ask here about this. Suspiciously strange.... ;)

oldirty - 9-4-2011 at 03:33

Yes,but there is few people on this forums I wouldn't get answer that fast ..
I can't understand why some members spamming this thread,I just asked for place to buy chem reagents,i'm not trying to do anything illegal,anyone tell me where I can buy chem reagents or you will keep spamming how i'm going to do something illegal ?

azo - 9-4-2011 at 04:09

I suppose when you want a phenyl nitroalkene acetic acid ammonium acetate and benzaldehyde would be handy would it not.
Anyway why would you not make it from benzyl alcohol and mn02 but i suppose that it would be to hard for a learner.
And this same learner wants to try to make a nitroalkene ? thats ok but what are you going to do with it then, well you need to no more than you do . I think you should start with something easier than that.


azo

peach - 9-4-2011 at 10:18

The further West you look, the harder and harder it becomes to buy pure reagents from lab suppliers. You might be better searching forums that are in more familiar languages. Particularly if you look East on the compass. ;)

Benzaldehyde and acetic acid shouldn't be hard. I can get those fairly easily and live in the West. If you can't get them, it is likely that you're just not searching enough or trying enough different ideas and are instead following some recipe. In which case, you will likely fail at said recipe given the level of ability it requires to run it versus getting the things to do so in the first place.

woelen - 11-4-2011 at 00:03

My complaint is not about the original topic starter but on crystalXclear. This thread does not contain any useful information anyway, so my preference is just moving it to detritus. The original topic starter still can try to obtain his information by supplying more info on his intents.

And btw, the czort link posted here cannot be used for obtaining chemicals for illicit use. I know this guy, and he indeed is aimed at pyrotechnics and he is willing to supply chemicals for general home chemistry, but he is careful and very aware of the potential abuse of chemicals for making drugs. You might be able to obtain some other chemicals not on his list (e.g. he now has some silver powder and selenium powder), but there is one big rule: no shipping of liquids! So for benzaldehyde and glacial acetic acid this is a no go. That kind of chemicals really must be obtained locally.

Mildronate - 11-4-2011 at 11:16

To my mind in lithuania is companys where you can buy from Aldrich catalog.

oldirty - 12-4-2011 at 05:04

I already called Sigma-Aldrich and they said they won't sell to me unless I will have a company.
Any ideas guys I live in small city if you can imagine its not US or UK we don't have many shops and in those few shops we have they usually don't have what I want or have for insane price..