Sciencemadness Discussion Board - The Sciencemadness Starter Kit

The Sciencemadness Starter Kit

Texium - 26-7-2016 at 15:41

there are probably 150 chemicals every beginner should have that are easily shippable without regulation, and I would be happy to provide those at-cost should anyone be interested in a bulk purchase.

You say that there are around 150 chemicals that are common across the board for beginners. It might be beneficial to get those listed and in consensus, and then make a spot for them on SynthSource. A lot of people just don't know where to begin, or what synthesis to do, and we always ask the question "what do you have?". Well, if they have the "SM Starter Kit", then we know what they have on hand and are capable of!

Quote: Originally posted by zts16

I talked to Amos a while back actually about making an SM starter kit, and we compiled a list of stuff that would be good to put in it:

Copper sulfate pentahydrate - 75g
Basic copper carbonate - 15g
Nickel sulfate hexahydrate - 15g
Ferrous sulfate heptahydrate - 15g
Iron(III) oxide - 15g
Manganese dioxide - 35g
Potassium dichromate - 25g
Sodium metabisulfite - 35g
Sodium hydroxide - 50g
Potassium iodide - 10g
Potassium nitrate - 50g
Oxalic acid dihydrate - 35g
Phthalic anhydride - 25g
Iodine crystals - 3g
Phenol crystals - 3g
Methanol, technical grade - 100mL
Ethanol, 95% - 100mL
n-Propanol - 25mL
n-Butanol - 25mL
Benzyl alcohol - 25mL
Urea - 50g
Silver nitrate - 2g
Zinc sulfate monohydrate - 25g
Manganese sulfate monohydrate - 25g
Glacial acetic acid - 50mL
Lithium carbonate - 10g
Calcium carbonate - 25g
Sodium dichloroisocyanurate - 15g
Sodium bromide - 25g
Potassium permanganate - 15g
Ascorbic acid - 25g
Vanadium pentoxide - 2g
Sulfuric acid, 93% tech grade (if requested, for extra charge) - 25 mL
Nitric acid, ~70% (if requested, for extra charge) - 25 mL
Ammonia, 10% (if requested, for extra charge)

3 test tubes with caps
150 mL beaker
250 mL beaker

Obviously, people who buy it would have to work small scale until they decide to buy larger quantities of reagents that they want to work with more, but it could be very good as an introduction. A lot of thought was put into making it as affordable as possible while packing in as many useful reagents as we could.

Quote: Originally posted by Praxichys

I like the idea of that list. I have almost 1000 small (120mL) polyethylene containers on hand that I use on a regular basis for chemical distribution. I can definitely put together such a kit from things I currently own, and we might be able to raffle it off to promote SynthSource or something.

I'd be fine offering up the basics on SynthSource on a permanent basis. It would be easy to just make a list at a price point. Offer $2 worth of everything, and shipping is $12 up to 12 items, $18 up to 24 items, $24 up to 36 items, etc. You could pick a custom packing list, or choose one of the starter kits. I could also introduce $4 items which would be like 3x the weight of the $2 item. You could get that entire list for the price of a decent video game, plus shipping.

Quote: Originally posted by zts16

Yeah, that sounds really good. I was also thinking that there could be different kits, like an inorganic one, an organic one, and a complete one (which would basically be the full list in my last post). The amounts could of course be adjusted depending on what's available.

A very economical way of packing dry chemicals for these kits would be to use small plastic reclosable bags. The Container Store sells a lot of different size ones that are made of much more durable plastic than normal ziploc bags. The smallest size that they have (you know, "drug dealer bags") are only $0.89 per package of ten (and they come stored inside of a larger bag, so really you get 11 bags per pack!). The bags are far cheaper than any other container available, and also more compact for shipping.

Another idea that Amos and I had, which I think would work especially well with these kits, was to write a little book of reactions for beginners to try. It would be very helpful to beginners to be able to buy a set of chemicals that go along with a book chock full of real chemistry experiments to try that utilize everything in the kit.

Quote: Originally posted by j_sum1

This is sounding like the beginnings of a great project. I would have been in boots and all if it was available two years ago when I started. However, I now have an average of 500g of most things on that list. (Missing GAA, vanadium pentoxide, ascorbic acid, phenol and benzyl alcohol.)
With the addition of a booklet of experiments (or, realistically a pdf) and a small amount of glassware, we would have a modern chemistry set reminiscent of days of old. That would be pretty cool.

This might be worth its own thread to thrash out some details, refine the list and write up some experiments.

And here is the new thread! Since it was intertwined with the other thread, rather than actually splitting it, I copied over all of the posts that pertain to the starter kit idea and placed them here.

j_sum1 - 26-7-2016 at 16:10

Ok. Brilliant.
No time to discuss specifics at the moment, but to get the ball rolling I offer woelen's starter list. I love the way that he has categorised chemicals according to their uses.
http://woelen.homescience.net/science/chem/misc/chemicals.ht...

Also, here is a starter list from a maker website. (I admit to not having read it for quite some time. I do know that it focuses on OTC sources and so might be outside the scope of a starter kit.)
http://makezine.com/setting-up-a-home-science-lab3/

I'll add also strontiumred's list of experiments on the transition metals which I think provide a great list of easily accessible small-scale inorganic experiments.
http://www.explorechem.com/home.html

And I note that sodium thiosulfate was not on the list above. (Unless I missed it.)

Sulaiman - 26-7-2016 at 16:14

Economically it would be easiest to 'sponsor' an existing supplier to supply the kit,
(supply and delivery chains etc.)
but I like the idea of multiple independant hobby supply sources.

For sure some items on the list are not allowed in EU and some not in US, so it would be complicated.
Good luck...

Texium - 26-7-2016 at 16:33

Quote: Originally posted by Sulaiman

Economically it would be easiest to 'sponsor' an existing supplier to supply the kit

Perhaps so, but that would likely make the kit more expensive for the buyer than it would be if it was put together by Sciencemadness members. Take the Elemental Scientific "Advanced Chemical Set" for example. It contains fewer chemicals than the set that we propose, but costs $160. I'm sure that we could provide a better kit for less than $100 especially if we're able to save on packaging by packing many chemicals in plastic bags and using technical grade chemicals when acceptable and available. And I don't know about Doug (since he'll probably be the one putting these together), but if I was putting these kits together I would be selling them to break even, if not at cost, and not trying to profit from them. In all likelihood only a dozen or so will probably be sold.

macckone - 26-7-2016 at 17:10

The kit that elemental scientific provides is for a specific book. A very good book I might add.

Texium - 26-7-2016 at 18:06

Quote: Originally posted by macckone

The kit that elemental scientific provides is for a specific book. A very good book I might add.

Indeed it is. I was given a copy of that book for Christmas of 2013 when I was just getting into amateur chemistry, and it was a great introduction to the hobby. Now I'm letting a friend of mine borrow it who is looking to get started.

However, I will say that while it is a very good book and is perfect to use for learning general lab etiquette and technique, it is not written in the same resourceful and DIY spirit that this board is known for. You don't get procedures for preparation of chloroform, or distillation of nitric acid in there, for instance, even though many of us consider them to be among the most useful procedures that can be used to actually save money on reagents.

chemplayer... - 26-7-2016 at 20:25

Just to chip in, we had an idea a few months ago of setting up an online reagent shop. We did a bit of research and costed it up but in the end there was no easy way of facilitating international payments (short of Paypal / Bitcoin which either we / no one else respectively wants to use). We also found a third party company which would act as an agent for us, but they in turn contacted their payment gateway supplers and they all apparently said that they refuse to handle payments for anything 'science' or 'medical' like.

We based the list on what reagents we had found more difficult to get hold of and hence would be of interest especially to amateur experimenters, and the intent was packs of 50g-100g depending on the product, bulk, etc. We did create an initial product catalogue though which contained all the relevant label information and safety details (especially for international shipping), and we also did some tests to see if the products would be stable inside double sealed plastic bags (the sealable 'jewel' bags you get), especially for highly hydroscopic items. We limited the list to solid products (below 50C) only.

Here's some findings:

- Phosphorus pentoxide, iron (III) chloride, zinc chloride, and ammonium thiocyanate all failed a test where they were stored in a carefully sealed plastic jewel bag and this stored inside another carefully sealed plastic bag for a 1 month period. The contents absorbed enough water to turn slightly 'squishy' in both cases. So we removed them from our 'viable' products list, at least using the cheap plastic double bag packing.
- Potassium dichromate is restricted and also 'packing group I' according to the UN regulations. However there's a workaround; ship potassium chromate instead (packing group II and not restricted). It's a nice little experiment in its own right to prepare the former from the latter.
- Lots of compounds are technically only 'dangerous goods' if below a certain weight (normally quite a large amount compared to 'reagent size' packs), which means that for international shipping no dangerous goods documentation or labelling / packaging is needed (MSDS still needed).
- Potassium permanganate seems to be listed as restricted in many places, but in practice everyone online sells it and we've found it OTC in many places so we included it on the list anyway.
- No matter how well you pack vanillin, the aroma permeates through everything after about a week!
- There was an outstanding problem which was how to identify and manage 'compatible' products for shipment. We came up with a way of identifying each product into a general 'compatibility' group where certain groups couldn't be shipped with each other. However we hadn't tested that the logic worked 100%. For instance it would be unwise to ship aluminium powder and potassium permanganate together. Or sodium nitrite and hydroxylamine hydrochloride or an ammonium salt for instance.

Attached is a csv file containing the product list along with the codes, details etc. but with our original commercials, price, cost, and some other information excluded.

May be of use if someone else is planning something similar.

Attachment: product list.csv (7kB)
This file has been downloaded 756 times

j_sum1 - 26-7-2016 at 22:51

Hmmmm.

I guess a lot comes down to who is putting together the kits, what kind of chems they have access to, what jurisdiction they are in, what the associated costs are, how much time they want to invest and what sort of profit they wish to make. All big variables. Suddenly a simple idea seems to be more complex than it initially seemed.

I think I might do a trial run in Oz. First step will be to put together a list of experiments. Then buy a bunch of small containers. Then load them up with an assortment of chemicals and label them. Package it up and throw it up on eBay to see what happens.
I see benefit in using containers rather than plastic bags -- that is what the buyer will want and it is probably worth the little bit of extra expense.

There are a lot of chemicals that I have more than I need of. The sticky point will be the small handful of essentials that I do not have much of -- potassium dichromate for example.

As if I don't have enough projects at present. It will still be at least another six weeks before I get a functioning lab space.
Anyway, I'll watch this thread and hopefully some good basic experiment ideas will come forward as well as a consensus of what such a pack should contain.

Dr.Bob - 27-7-2016 at 05:05

The challenge is that if you buy 150 chemicals, containers, etc, you will sink a lot of cash into it, and if only a few people buy, you are left with 150 partial bottles of chemicals that you might or might not be able to use or sell. They way I got into selling lab stuff was to get it dropped into my lap, basically, and I just sell it on commission, basically. But if I was buying stuff to resell, the amount of money I would have to invest in it, would force me to have to charge more to cover those costs. Plus I still have many things that people say they want, but rarely purchase. I hear people asking for vials, ampules, beakers, and bottles, but once people buy a few, the need drops, and some I have not sold in a while. So it is not a trivial amount of work to sell things, and while Ebay (or Amazon in rare cases) can sell things faster than here, the fees are closer to 20% of the sale, once you add them all up, so you have to go up quite a bit on pricing. If anyone in the US wants to try this, I have some nice vials, containers, ampules, and bottles to ship small amounts in, by the way... I am happy to make a good deal.

j_sum1 - 27-7-2016 at 15:03

Point noted Dr Bob. But I don't think I will be that ambitious on this one. I think if I buy a set of 20 or 30 small plastic screw-top vials, that will be enough to put together a decent set and need not cost a whole lot. Then I fill with the surplus of chems that I currently stock. If there are some that I do not have enough of, (and I mentioned K2Cr2O7) then I take the opportunity to restock my lab. I price it to cover cost of jars, a token amount for the chemicals (many of which I got free anyway), eBay costs and postage plus a little extra for my time. I put it up online and see what happens.

The motivation is, "welcome to the fun of chemistry" and not "I want to make scuds of money".
Once I sell one, I then think about another -- or not as the case may be.

Texium - 27-7-2016 at 17:47

Personally, with regards to plastic bags versus bottles, when I was starting out and had very little money to spend on chemistry (and wasn't sure yet how much I actually wanted to spend on it), a less expensive kit that used plastic bags would have been more appealing to me. With the amounts of chemicals being offered, the bottles are probably going to cost a lot more than the chemicals in them for the most part. Perhaps both options could be offered, and we could see which one is more well-received.

Loptr - 27-7-2016 at 18:05

Anybody have access to loads of free camera film canisters? I remember they used to be free from camera stores.

tomholm - 29-7-2016 at 21:15

I do like the idea of developing an old-style chemistry set to promote chemistry to new chemists, but I must also add a few words of caution because there are a lot of regulations to consider and the possibility of a lot of liability.

Some of the following concerns have been made in previous posts, but I think there are some new ones, as well. I also understand that many people do not adhere to all of these regulations, but you should know that there is the possibility of a $50,000 penalty for each package not in compliance or additional liability for any property damage or personal injury that may result from a non-conforming shipment.

1. Some chemicals on the list must be shipped hazardous or in poison packs regardless of the amount (no exceptions). Nitric acid and phenol, for example. I have not looked closely enough at the list to determine how many are subject to more restrictive requirements.

2. While many chemicals do fall under a limited quantity exemption, a shipper is not able to use this unless they have completed classes on shipping hazardous materials. In short, you need to be trained in order to know whether exemptions apply.

3. UPS and FedEx do not allow chemical shipments to be dropped off at their store locations. They require those shipments to be picked up by one of their drivers and require those who want to ship chemicals, hazardous or limited quantity exemptions, to maintain a hazardous shipping account that carries a weekly minimum charge.

4. Hazardous shipments require the shipper to provide an Emergency Response Telephone number that is manned 24 X 7. Obviously, there is a cost associated with providing this service.

5. All chemicals shipped must be properly labeled.

6. All chemicals cannot be shipped together. Chemical shipments must be separated based on hazard class.

7. I don’t believe that plastic bags satisfy inner packaging requirements for most chemicals; especially, if they are being shipped together.

8. The plan is to “sell” potentially harmful chemicals to “inexperienced, beginning” chemists. What can go wrong, right? Selling is different than giving away when it comes to being potentially liable for any damages. I would not be involved without adequate business insurance.

9. All payment systems take their cut.

10. I don’t think the economics of shipping small quantities as discussed work. The packaging costs and the labor required are being underestimated. I understand you may not be looking to make a lot of money (I can speak from experience that you will not), but I think this falls under losing money while taking on potentially very large liability.

Since this concept does fall under my line of business and I’ve thought about providing chemistry sets in the past, I would be interested in looking into this further to see if we could put together a series of products that would meet the overall goal of providing useful chemistry sets and documented processes to help beginning chemists. But, I admit, I would only do so if I thought it offered the chance of providing a reasonable amount of profit and demand.

j_sum1 - 29-7-2016 at 23:01

All worthy considerations. Thanks Tom.

Praxichys' original idea was for chems that are easily able to be shipped without regulatory restrictions. It is a constraint but if you are supplying beginners, that might be a good thing. It avoids the expense of hazmat and the associated costs. It also sidesteps a lot of liability questions.

Regulations (and penalties) you cite I presume are for the US. I would need to look up the equivalent in Oz if I was to do something.

Economics -- I would want to cover costs excluding my time. Like so much in this hobby it is a labour of love. In what I envisage, the chems would mostly come from what I have surplus. After containers, shipping and eBay fees were covered, if I had enough surplus cash to buy one chem for myself, say, a bottle of of ammonium thiocyanate, I would be happy. Let's see how this might go.

30 30mL bottles @ 30c each -- $9.00
Some test tubes and a couple of beakers -- say, $12
pdf of experiments -- a one-off investment of time. Maybe it could be printed out.
Profit -- representative amount to cover chems and provide me with something I want -- $20
Labelling -- Print out a roll of stickers. Again mostly time.
Packaging -- We have just shifted house. I have bubble-wrap to spare.
Shipping Aus-wide -- I think it could be done for $15 easily. Probably under 10.
EBay and PayPal fees -- allow 20%

So that comes in at around $66. Not chump change but not exorbitant either. It could come down quite a bit if I left off glassware.
This is not outside the realms of possibility.

The Volatile Chemist - 15-8-2016 at 13:52

Insightful comments Tom. And I like ChemPlayer's list.
In the past I'd thought about something similar, and was still kind-of thinking of doing such in college. Now I don't know, it looks like chemical sales aren't a very profitable business.
J_sum's plan, however, may work well. I think as long as the end goal isn't making money, you could come out alright. However, I don't see too much motivation left besides getting a reagent or two.
Perhaps a theme to the collection, or a plan would help. I just shipped a package of music sheets to a girl in PA today via USPS. Terrible shipping cost for under a pound. And they ask a good bit of questions too, as to what's in the package.
Just some quick thoughts.

j_sum1 - 15-8-2016 at 14:45

I am still planning on doing this. But I need to pour a concrete slab and build my lab first. then I have somewhere to unpack my stuff.

I think it could be a good way to encourage newbies into the craft.

Cabalaba - 19-8-2016 at 05:58

All of the hazardous material issues could be avoided by selling "mailable limited quantities" or worst case "ORM-D." We could avoid the whole Hazmat training for UPS and Fedex, using USPS (which is cheaper). This would be the best way to start.

As a business starts, for the first and even 2nd year, all profit should be [put in the LLC's bank account] and immediately spent to reinvest on other chemicals, glove boxes able to be flushed with inert gases for anhydrous chems. A business front could be avoided if the chems were spread out among members. Essentially, a business like this shouldn't make profit until their's enough to be made and a reason to hire people. We do this as a labor of love, so at least at first, it wouldn't be an issue for me.

However, this is not true for those wanting profit immediately. This would only work if we looked 5-10 years ahead.

The major problem will be dealing with all of our egos.

Again, tell me if Im wrong, idealistic, or confused about something. or just ignore me. I have a lot ideas, most dont work, but I grew up in the Bronx, poor as shit, so I realized young that you always fail if you dont try. Now Im living in an Ivory tower and continuing to take risks and unafraid to fail.

But I like out discourse so please hammer me if Im out of line or you just dont trust me.

Fleaker - 22-8-2016 at 11:48

What's wrong with setting it up as a nonprofit, starting a gofundme or whatever called "Worthwhile chemistry kit resurrection", hit the DOT training courses (I did them), buy some proper packaging materials and containers and go from there? I'm no attorney so I don't know how nonprofits and liability work, but I can't see this being done for a profit purpose. If it were up to me, the ACS would fund it

I know the Devil's in the details, but this can likely be done the right way for not too much money.

Texium - 22-8-2016 at 12:13

I agree with Fleaker. It's best to do this sort of thing totally above board. Upthread I mentioned using plastic bags, and that might still work for a few reagents, but it is probably best to use real bottles and jars for most things and to make sure to follow all of the guidelines. My only concern is that once all of the packaging costs and shipping fees are piled on it might make it too expensive to be appealing for the customer. I guess that's where the kickstarter/gofundme comes in though.

Dr.Bob - 23-8-2016 at 09:46

Quote: Originally posted by Cabalaba

All of the hazardous material issues could be avoided by selling "mailable limited quantities" or worst case "ORM-D." We could avoid the whole Hazmat training for UPS and Fedex, using USPS (which is cheaper). This would be the best way to start.wouldn't be an issue for me.

I ship both hazardous and non-hazardous items often, and the USPS is NOT the way to go, they are far more restrictive than either UPS or FedEx, and if you ship anything not allowed, it is a Federal offense. I'll take my chances with FedUPS anyway compared to the federal court system. The USPS does not handle almost any chemical legally.

I am all in favor of trying to do something to help chemistry, but as Tom Holm mentioned, it is not trivial or cheap to buy, package, store and ship chemicals. I would rather support a person like him in his existing business, that to try to compete with him, making it harder on both parties. I thin kas a first start, it would be worthwhile to create a small list of useful and practical to ship chemicals, which could be sold as a small kit.

Perhaps maybe have a few kits available, one for basics, one for organics, one for inorganic work, and one or two others. Keys are to decide on an affordable packing system, maybe scintillation vials or some other low cost packaging, what chemicals might be practical to include, and some experiments that can be done with them. Color changes, dyes, polymers, and crystal growing salts are some ideas I would have.

I'm not against someone here doing this, but it will take a large amount of time and money, and Tom has a lot of both already invested, so I would like to encourage him if possible.

tomholm - 14-12-2016 at 11:41

Quote: Originally posted by Cabalaba

I realize this is not a timely response, but I thought I'd post it anyway to clarify some misconceptions around shipping chemicals ORM-D. Shipping a hazardous chemical in small quantities that qualify for the ORM-D exception, does not make that chemical a non-hazardous chemical. It only changes the packaging and labeling requirements. It is still considered hazardous and still requires training and account authorizations from FedEx and UPS to ship using this exception. The idea is that you need to be trained in order to be able to safely use the exception. And, I agree with Dr. Bob that the USPS is even more restrictive than FedEx and UPS. The following texts are taken from a dangerous goods training site and I believe are accurate statements:

So, is a "Consumer Commodity" considered "hazmat" or "dangerous goods"?

Yes. Absolutely. As a hazardous materials shipper, you are required to train your employees involved in shipping Consumer Commodity shipments by Ground every 3 years, by Air or Ocean every 2 years.

What happens if I don’t train my people to ship ORM-D or any hazmat?
You can be fined up to $27,500 per violation, per day. A typical fine for a medium size company is around $30,000 for an air violation.

JJay - 14-12-2016 at 12:25

I've been told that some shippers get around the requirement to ship ORM-D by keeping quantities under 30 mL or 30 grams. I'm not sure what legal statute or doctrine this falls under, but it seems to be a common practice.

PeterC - 14-12-2016 at 12:44

This sounds like a cool idea but realistically it would be very hard to pull off in the US due to legislation + HAZMAT. There is however another method of effectively and cheaply shipping strange things, the method itsself is the notorious drop-shipping industry of China. It's usually cheaper to send something like 30g of reagent or a beaker from Shenzhen to LA than it is from San Fransisco, and if you do all the paperwork right reagents should have no trouble getting through customs. Unfortunately this kind of plan has two flaws, most big drop-shippers want businesses that are receiving orders often, and the second issue is the perceived "shadiness" of receiving packages from some unpronounceable industrial complex in China.

Dr.Bob - 14-12-2016 at 13:58

Quote: Originally posted by JJay

I've been told that some shippers get around the requirement to ship ORM-D by keeping quantities under 30 mL or 30 grams. I'm not sure what legal statute or doctrine this falls under, but it seems to be a common practice.

There are quantity limits for most chemicals. The idea is that for low hazard chemicals, you can ship under a certain amount without placarding the box. You still have to package the chemical in a bottle (the cap must be taped or locked shut) placed inside a bag or sealed box, the paperwork on the package must still be labelled with the contents and hazards, and the box must be labelled "Contents meet (some code number here) standard". For many liquids the amount is 30 ml or grams, for many solids it is higher. The USPS WILL NOT accept most of those packages legally, and shipping them without the right paperwork, training and labeling will get you arrested and jailed.

So there are ways to ship chemicals legally and safely, but it is not easy nor is it cheap. I used to take the classes every 2 years, and packages a lot of chemicals for internal shipment within my company, but even then we always had a risk of being fined or worse, yet, if something leaked, there was a huge investigation. Fortunately, the only leak cases I was involved in, I was the recipient of the leaking package, not the originator, and so I was not the one that people visited to harass and question.

For more details of small sample rules, see

www.jhsph.edu%2Fresearch%2Fcenters-and-institutes%2Fjohns-ho...

[Edited on 15-12-2016 by Dr.Bob]

JJay - 14-12-2016 at 14:55

Quote: Originally posted by Dr.Bob

Quote: Originally posted by JJay

There are quantity limits for most chemicals. The idea is that for low hazard chemicals, you can ship under a certain amount without placarding the box. You still have to package the chemical in a bottle (the cap must be taped or locked shut) placed inside a bag or sealed box, the paperwork on the package must still be labelled with the contents and hazards, and the box must be labelled "Contents meet (some code number here) standard". For many liquids the amount is 35 ml or grams, for many solids it is higher. The USPS WILL NOT accept most of those packages legally, and shipping them without the right paperwork, training and labeling will get you arrested and jailed.

So there are ways to ship chemicals legally and safely, but it is not easy nor is it cheap. I used to take the classes every 2 years, and packages a lot of chemicals for internal shipment within my company, but even then we always had a risk of being fined or worse, yet, if something leaked, there was a huge investigation. Fortunately, the only leak cases I was involved in, I was the recipient of the leaking package, not the originator, and so I was not the one that people visited to harass and question.

That sounds about right. Of course, "low hazard" means different things to different people... 30 mL of hexane might be considered dangerous by some people, even if carefully sealed in a shatterproof bottle.

I've never been involved in a leak case and hope to never be, but I will say that it is better if the package contains some kind of paperwork stating its contents. There are few things that compare to the excitement experienced when receiving an unmarked vial of white powder that you don't remember ordering without an OSHA 3492 label, manifest, or bill of lading.

Dr.Bob - 15-12-2016 at 12:22

Must be marked “This package conforms to 49 CFR 173.4 for domestic highway or rail transport only.” - that is the wording for small samples.

If anyoine is sleepy, here are some details on small samples: (found by Googling "Small sample shipping exceptions", lots of other ones there.)

www.jhsph.edu/research/centers.../Fowlkes_Hazmat%20Presentat...

PirateDocBrown - 6-8-2017 at 22:07

So I got to thinking about this. But on the lines of what would a well-stocked, general purpose organic lab have?

I did some searching on the web about what if I were a small college chemistry department stockroom manager, what would I want?

I certainly would think that Sigma-Aldrich, etc. would have a basic list handy. But no.

So I went to it, on my own. Trying to remember all that I had, in grad school. (Industrial labs tend to be much more focused.)

PirateDocBrown - 6-8-2017 at 23:46

Here's where I went with this.

Solvents:

We had 3 stills in my group for solvents:
Methylene chloride
Dimethoxyethane
Tetrahydrofuran
We had a common departmental still:
Ethyl ether
General purpose solvents:
Ethanol/methanol/isopropanol
Acetone
Toluene
Ligroin/Pet Ether
Chloroform
Largely for chromatography or extraction:
Ethyl Acetate
Others:
MEK
Benzene
Chlorobenzene
Nitrobenzene, freidel crafts
Pyridine - for esterfications
1,1,2,2 tetrachloroethane, Freidel crafts
Aniline
Dimethylaniline
Dimethylformamide
1,4 Dioxane
Methoxyethanol
Cyclohexanone
Carbon disulfide and carbon tetrachloride for halogenations

Drying agents:

Calcium chloride
Potassium hydroxide
Sodium metal, benzophenone for ketal
Phosphorus pentoxide
Potassium carbonate
Sodium sulfate
Magnesium sulfate
Calcium sulfate
Alumina

Any of a huge variety of alkylating agents:
Alkyl halides (I used t-BuCl quite a lot)
Alkyl sulfates
Alkyl tosylates

Similarly with acylating agents:

Acetic anhydride
Acetyl chloride
Benzoyl chloride
Benzene sulfonyl chloride
Tosyl chloride

Halogenators:
Thionyl chloride
Phosphorus trichloride/tribromide
Phosphorus pentachloride
Elemental Iodine and Bromine
Sodium tetrafluoroborate
Ferric chloride/bromide
N Bromo Succinimide

Many aldehydes, as building blocks:
Acetaldehyde
Formaldehyde, also for Cross Cannizzaro
Benzaldehyde

Gases we had in cylinders, or could set up to generate:
Nitrogen, virtually everywhere. Argon, in places.
Shared departmental ozone generator
Acetylene
Ethylene Oxide
Diazomethane
Boron trifluoride (Freidel Crafts)
Ammonia
Carbon Dioxide
Carbon Monoxide
Chlorine
Nitric Oxide
Hydrogen Chloride
Hydrogen Bromide
Hydrogen Cyanide

Acids and Anhydrides:
Sulfuric
Hydrochloric
Nitric
Phosphoric
Acetic, I try to do oxidations in it, when possible
Acetic Anhydride, usually to oxidize methylbenzenes
Hypophosphoric and fluoboric, for diazoniums
Hydrofluoric
Hydroiodic
Hydrobromic
Malonic and Acetoacetic for esters
Peroxybenzoic, for epoxides
Peroxyacetic, for glycols
Trifluoroacetic, for thallation
Succinic Anhydride
Phthalic Anhydride
Oleum

Both Potassium and Sodium Hydroxide
Also Calcium Hydroxide, mostly used to generate ammonia

Silica, largely for column chromatography

Elements:
Nickel, Palladium, Platinium, and Lead metal, for hydrogenation catalysts
Potassium, Aluminum, Sodium, Zinc, and Lithium, for reduction
Lithium also for lithiation
Zinc also for dehalogenation, and small scale hydrogen generation
Tin and Iron for reducing nitro compounds, Iron also for halogenation catalysis
Mercury to make zinc amalgam for Clemmensen
Red Phosphorus was largely for halogenation catalysis of alcohols

Redox agents:
Lithium Aluminum Hydride
Sodium cyanoborohydride
Lithium tri-tert-butoxyaluminum hydride
Sodium Borohydride
Di isobutyl aluminum hydride, ester to aldehyde reduction
Pyridinum chromyl chloride, alcohol to carbonyl oxidation
Potassium dichromate
Potassium permanganate

Other catalysts and reagents:

Aluminum trichloride (Friedel crafts)
Mercuric sulfate (alkene hydration)
Cadmium chloride (acyl chloride reduction)
Sodium cyanide for nitriles
Sodium bisulfite for aldehydes
Sodium nitrate for nitration or diazonium salts
Sodium bisulfate for aldol condensation
Ammonium chloride, mostly for ammonia gas production
Lead tetraacetate, for phenols
Cuprous chloride, bromide, cyanide for Sandmeyer, the halides also for aryl halogenation
Potassium iodide, for diazonium or arylthallium reactions
Cuprous iodide for Corey-House
Mercuric acetate, for oxymercuration
Zinc chloride, Friedel crafts or aryl halogenation
Sodium Amide, for acetylides
Chromium Trioxide and Vanadium Pentoxide, for oxidation catalysis
Diborane, for hydroboration
Iodoform and methylamine, halide amination
Methyl formate
Hydrazine (sulfate or hydrochloride, usually used for wolff kischner)
Sodium aluminum tetrachloride
Thallium triflate, for phenol preparation
Mercuric triflate, for alkoxymercuration
Triphenylphosphine, for Wittig or phenol prep

Vosoryx - 7-8-2017 at 09:35

I love the idea of these kits, but (cost aside) regulations would make them almost impossible to ship with decent chemicals. In Canada, regulations are a bit more relaxed, but in the states, as well as other countries, it could be quite a hassle. (I think one needs a license to purchase an Erlenmeyer flask in Texas, for example. http://homebrewingfun.blogspot.ca/2014/05/purchasing-erlenme...)
What might be easier, and cheaper in the long run, would be to make a kit containing some essential labware/glassware, and a booklet or book with directions on how to find many chemicals OTC in the local area and then purify/make the chemicals they need. (Example: Make Nitric acid by mixing distillation purified Sulphuric acid, found in some drain cleaner, with ammonium nitrate, found in some instant cold packs.) I know that this could be a hassle, especially for someone who doesn't live in a large city, (Like me, who had to wait for two months to find a drug store, two hours away, that sold NH4NO3) but it might be the best option.
I love the idea of bringing back to life the chemistry kit, and I would be happy to help if I could. I just don't think that it would be at all economical in this day and age.
Please though, somebody prove me wrong!

PirateDocBrown - 8-8-2017 at 04:28

Other useful things, not really "chemicals", but ought to have around:

Molecular sieves
Diatomaceous earth
mercury for electrodes
lots of copper wire - I'd wire together lots of glassware
vacuum pump oil
mineral oil
glycerine
silicone grease
sand
boiling stones
indicator papers
iodine for TLC

Of course, all the supplies needed for HPLC, GC, spectroscopy, and NMR, but these are likely unneeded in a home lab.

I'm sure I could think of more, if I sat and thought some.

PirateDocBrown - 8-8-2017 at 04:36

Now, on the other end, I'm assembling a small chemistry set, that a young kid could use, but that is hard to find anymore.

Naturally, I'd tell the parent to go buy stuff they could easily find at a grocery store:

White vinegar
Ammonia
Hydrogen Peroxide
Washing Soda
Baking Soda
Salt
Epsom Salt
Denatured Alcohol (for an alcohol lamp)

But I'd provide stuff that one used to find in old school chemistry sets, at first I'd want to limit this, I have 28 very nice vials for them, I thought 2 sets of 14 would be a nice starter kit:

Ammonium Chloride
Calcium Chloride
Copper Sulfate
Sodium Bisulfate
Boric Acid
Sulfur
Sodium Metabisulfate
Potassium Permanganate
Sodium Nitrate
Sodium Hydroxide
Calcium Hydroxide
Manganese Dioxide
Ferrous Sulfate
Iron, powder.

Now, to write a new manual for such a chemistry set, using these chemicals.

Church of Trianglism - 8-8-2017 at 22:25

I find shipping chemicals even locally to be such a pain, I also do not have reliable transportation so schlecking cross country just to get small amounts of potassium nitrate and benzaldehyde doesn't appeal to me.

I am on a path making everything I can from scratch.. maybe I can use this list to help me along.

I will only ship if there is no other option, I have no worries ordering stuff like acetic anhydride from ebay but I would rather just make it myself.

PirateDocBrown - 9-8-2017 at 09:34

Quote: Originally posted by Church of Trianglism

I find shipping chemicals even locally to be such a pain, I also do not have reliable transportation so schlecking cross country just to get small amounts of potassium nitrate and benzaldehyde doesn't appeal to me.

I am on a path making everything I can from scratch.. maybe I can use this list to help me along.

I will only ship if there is no other option, I have no worries ordering stuff like acetic anhydride from ebay but I would rather just make it myself.

Where are you, that you cannot get KNO3 locally?

in the US, any Home Depot will have it.