It was probably hot, open slowly to vent pressurised air. Wear goggle if you're paranoid.deltaH - 14-3-2015 at 12:54
We get this all the time. Welcome to sciencemadness. First bit of advice: "Don't panic!".Amos - 14-3-2015 at 13:46
Solid plan: If you think a reaction that is occurring might be dangerous, but not immediately so, take it outside! Outside fumes can't hurt you
inside.aga - 14-3-2015 at 14:10
More Solid Plan : Research what *might* happen, and Prepare for the possible consequences.
On this one, your main problem is that you now have a junk mixture of iron and copper acetate.Amos - 14-3-2015 at 15:27
Isn't iron acetate just slowly oxidized by air into iron oxide? battoussai114 - 14-3-2015 at 15:44
Isn't iron acetate just slowly oxidized by air into iron oxide?
Not from my experiences, I have a glass chromatography vial with it in which I have been slowly crystallising for about a year now (little neglected
to be honest). It is still all Iron iii Oxyacetate 2(Fe3O(OCH3COO)6(H2O)3)OCH3COO
(this is the chemical a 12 year old could make with white vinegar/dilute acetic and an oxidiser, not Iron iii Acetate which I believe is only produced
by a displacement reaction between CH3CO2Ag and FeCl3). My sample of Iron iii Oxyacetate hasn't shown any changes in
all that time; no colour change or precipitation. It does however decompose upon heating, releasing an acetic odour.
It's nothing of any concern this time, but in the future, please research the reaction you want to do, some chemicals when mixed give non-reactions
which will just be a let down and a waste of chemical/time/effort (like this time) but others can go very badly wrong.
Kit
[Edited on 14-3-2015 by Kitsune1]deltaH - 15-3-2015 at 02:19
I wish op would have been more detailed in his initial question.
james5239 stated later that it got hot, so assume it was ferrous acetate and this was a redox reaction Fe2+|Fe3+||Cu2+|Cu, thus
heating up.
Closing exothermic reactions in containers isn't a bright idea. I hope he successfully released the pressure without injury.
Any smell would be from small amounts of acetic acid in solution, but these would pose no serious threat.
[Edited on 15-3-2015 by deltaH]woelen - 15-3-2015 at 07:26
If you don't know what chemical reactions can occur by mixing two chemicals, then first read about these chemicals and if you try something, use very
small amounts (e.g. just a pea-sized amount of the chemicals). With such small amounts, the risk is much lower and hardly anything bad can happen. It
also is a good idea to perform experiments in open reaction vessels, so that if gases are produced, they can escape.
