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Author: Subject: tetra-n-butylammonium hydroxide
Jor
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[*] posted on 7-6-2009 at 14:00
tetra-n-butylammonium hydroxide


I have the opportunity to buy some chemicals, all from an old lab.
I have decided that I will take the 25g lead (II) acetate and 50g periodic acid. The former for 2 EUR and the latter for 5 EUR. The price for the periodic acid is amazing, I already have 25g but i can't let this go.

But I am unsure of 2 other chemicals. I can buy 100mL tetra-n-butylammoniumhydroxide 40% for 4 euro. But what can I do with this stuff? I recall it is a PTC, but I have no projects into mind that require a PTC. Is it interesting for some inorganic synthesis? I can imagine it is a very stable cation.
Also I am not sure of the silver nitrate. I can get the following product for 5 EUR:
-'Titrisol' 0,1N silver nitrate for 1L, Merck. It is 5 euro. How does this come? An ampoule with 16,987 grams of silver nitrate crystals? Or a large ampoule with a very concentrated solution?
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panziandi
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[*] posted on 7-6-2009 at 16:31


Jor, buy the lot :P

TBAH can be useful PTC and for taking the OH- ion into the organic phase.

Silver nitrate will likely come as the solution ready made from the sounds of it - but am not too sure on this.

I always laugh when I read "periodic acid" (bad chemistry joke I guess relating to the periodic table!)




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DJF90
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[*] posted on 7-6-2009 at 22:52


With the n-Bu4N+ OH-, you can add an iodide salt of a metal that forms an insoluble precipitate with hydroxide. Then you can chlorinate the t-Bu4N+ I- to form the interhalogen anion ICl4- (or is it ICl3-?). Upon exposure to light for a while the compound loses chlorine to form a lower iodochloride (I just made this up so hope it makes sense :P). I can post the details after my exam if you wish; this was one of the practical experiments we did this year in inorganic labs.
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woelen
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[*] posted on 8-6-2009 at 02:25


I also would buy the entire lot. The silvernitrate probably comes as solution, but still that is quite good. Aqueous solutions of silvernitrate also are good to have around and EUR 5 for 17 grams of AgNO3 is a very good price, even if it is dissolved in water. You could for instance make exactly 100 ml out of this ampoule, which gives you a 1 M solution of AgNO3.

The tetrabutyl ammonium salt sounds rather interesting. It gives you a huge cationic species, which may be interesting for synthesizing complexes. Many complexes only can be obtained in crystalline form if the cation is sufficiently large (an example is Br3(-)) and with this cation you have a fairly inert but large cation. The largest one I have is Cs(+), but the tetrabutyl ammonium ion certainly outperforms Cs(+)!




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UnintentionalChaos
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[*] posted on 8-6-2009 at 08:18


Odd. TBAOH is unstable with regards to hoffman elimination. I'd suspect some reasonable contamination with nBu3N.

From it, you can prepare organic-soluble mineral acid salts. For example, it can be used to carry persulfate anion into an organic phase. The fluoride salt (TBAF) is a common desilylating reagent.

Dissolving it into chloroform would probably give you a rapid generation of dichlorocarbene.




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woelen
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[*] posted on 8-6-2009 at 12:06


Jor, if you don't buy the TBAOH, then I am willing to buy it ;) Just let me know. I think that it can be interesting, even if it is not stable and easily falls apart in nBu3N.



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Jor
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[*] posted on 8-6-2009 at 12:13


Thanks for the replies.

This chemical has now greatly interested me. I will be buying it.

Woelen, we still have to do a trade in chemicals :P.
I am very busy, so I don't really have the time, but if I can find some I will send you the chemicals I promised. I will send 30-40mL of the TBAOH solution as well.
If we do a large trade, maybe we should avoid shipping and meet somewhere between our cities. I have my driving license now, so that shouldn't be a problem! :)

[Edited on 8-6-2009 by Jor]
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woelen
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[*] posted on 9-6-2009 at 09:53


Yes, that's a better idea than shpping things. We certainly should arrange things soon, I'll contact you by email.



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