I'm not really sure what you would do with it, besides turn alkenes into diols or keep it as part of a collection. It's apparently quite volatile and
unfriendly to the condition of being alive & happy.Wizzard - 15-3-2012 at 06:48
I would love a vial of this for my collection... I think, though, I would encase it in acrylic first barley81 - 15-3-2012 at 11:16
Depending on the price, I also might be interested.bfesser - 15-3-2012 at 11:39
Could you post a macro photograph of the OsO<sub>4</sub> in vials, please?franklyn - 15-3-2012 at 16:48
Where do you get all these fun toys ?
OsO4 sublimation is hazardously toxic , it is used in electron microscopy for sample fixation.
From wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmium_tetroxide
" OsO4 is highly poisonous, even at low exposure levels, inhalation at concentrations
well below those at which a smell can be perceived can lead to pulmonary edema ,
and subsequent death. Noticeable symptoms can take hours to appear after exposure."
From here - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3604857.stm
Lacrymatory " vapors corrode eyes , even a small amount can turn them brown or black and
you would be permanently blinded " ( requiring a cornea transplant )
How exactly do I post a picture? I'm unsure if sciencemadness will host a picture or just mirror it from a place where it's hosted.
It's from fisher scientific. Scored glass vials, with a little bit of black paper over the compound to protect it from light. There's also a little
plastic cap covering the scored part.
What are the legal ramifications of selling such compounds? I believe it is unscheduled in the united states.
@franklyn
Acquired from a garage sale. On a side not, osmium tetroxide is probably one of the least useful compounds for a terrorist attack. It would
decompose in an explosion and probably shield anyone nearby from the explosion, with it's high density. It would also be a very expensive to acquire
it in kilogram quantities.
"But Professor Hay told the BBC it would have to be obtained from a specialist chemical supplier and it did not fit the profile of a typical chemical
warfare or dirty bomb agent."
"This would be something present, like a heavy metal like lead, in the environment. I don't think it would be a major hazard and clean up would not be
a major problem," he said.Nicodem - 19-3-2012 at 05:58
What are the legal ramifications of selling such compounds? I believe it is unscheduled in the united states.
The consequences could be much worse than they would be if it would be "scheduled". If you send it undeclared by mail and anything undesired happens
on its way, you would find it very hard to avoid prison due to manslaughter(s). If nothing happens, but someone reports you to the authorities, you
would get accused of breaking some dangerous goods transport regulation (I'm sure they exist in just about any country you could live in). The court
defence would most likely cost you hundreds times the amount of money you would made by selling this amount of osmium oxide. The only way to sell it
legally would be by organizing the transport by adhering to the law and regulations.
Edit: Reading this other thread might give you the idea of the minimum prison time you face.
[Edited on 19/3/2012 by Nicodem]bfesser - 19-3-2012 at 10:37
Pictures can be uploaded as attachments from the <a href="post.php?action=reply&fid=5&tid=19373">Post Reply</a> page.woelen - 20-3-2012 at 01:56
I would be very careful with shipping these ampoules of OsO4. It is not scheduled and possession and sale is not a problem, but shipping it is a
problem. If such a thin and vulnerable ampoule breaks while in transit, then you and the intended receiver have a HUGE problem. OsO4 is volatile and
the vapors are extremely hazardous. Half a gram can cause a lot of bad things when it escapes in e.g. a post office or in a van with other parcels and
letters. So, if you ship it, then package it extremely well and be 100% sure that no OsO4 vapor can escape in case an ampoule does break.
If you want to experiment with OsO4, then thoroughly clean an ampoule on the outside and then put it in a clean beaker with distilled water (e.g. 100
ml). Then press and shatter the ampoule with a clean plastic or glass rod while it is completely under water. Next, swirl until the OsO4 has dissolved
and then decant the solution from the splinters of glass of the ampoule. In this way you will have virtually no exposure to OsO4 vapor.Fleaker - 22-3-2012 at 13:41
I think some of the danger of this compound is well overblown much like the hyperbole with osmium sponge and powder being dangerous at STP.
Believe it or not, I've actually seen the stuff come in screw top bottles. Volatile it may be, but the vapors do not travel far, and anything they
touch (be it polyethylene, wood, or skin) is an immediate reductant for it. It probably wouldn't make it out of its packaging. It will lacquer any
organic with a shiny, beautiful black sheen. That includes your eyeballs or the alvioli in your lungs. It's very good at staining organic things--much
like SO3 with regards to any residues.
As to shipping it, don't. Not unless you can adhere to the stringent hazmat requirements. If they catch you (and I have a feeling they X-ray for
little ampoules and it's all sorted by algorithm), you're probably up **** creek.
You're best off making a 3M ethanolic KOH solution and breaking the ampoules in that and then just going for Os sponge--in our experience, that works
well for trapping distilled OsO4 when refining Os from other PGM concentrates.barley81 - 22-3-2012 at 15:01
Hmm. That gives me an idea! Put a piece of X-ray film in a box, and then ship it. If it's clouded, then we know that they do use X-rays. But wouldn't
such a system mess up boxes of photographic film?ScienceSquirrel - 22-3-2012 at 15:18
I would treat it it with caution today.
Once biitten, maybe completely fucked!
I remember seeing small glass vials of osmium tetroxide on the shelf in school and university labs in the late seventies and early eighties.
Mind you we filled bubblers with mercury and used it in huge quantities to make sodium amalgam which we used as a reducing agent.Fleaker - 23-3-2012 at 13:23
My FedEx account rep told me that FedEx X-rays everything. How many people ship film in small quantities anyway?niertap - 25-3-2012 at 18:41
I believe putting a small sticker on the box would make it completely legal to ship. The postal service would be aware of the possible dangers and
all legal burdens would then fall on them.
As far as x-raying mail, I know they do. Just not what % of it. They operate the only electron beam/X-ray beam facility in the USbarley81 - 25-3-2012 at 19:12
So, you would sell it? How much would you ask per ampoule?bfesser - 20-12-2013 at 16:18
[thred-rez] Never posted photos... how disappointing.Dr.Bob - 21-12-2013 at 06:01
To clarify, the US Postal service does not accept almost any hazmat items, no matter what amount. That would break federal laws, so don't do it.
Small amounts of some other chemicals can be shipped via FedEx and UPS, but only if packed and labelled correctly, which requires a lot of paperwork
in most cases. So please be careful with trying to ship chemicals, especially by mail.
Many Chinese companies ship illegally via the US Mail, which is easier for them, since the chance of being deported to the US for mail issues is lower
there. But for most others, there are big risks.
