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Brain&Force
Hazard to Lanthanides
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So what have you been doing?
What chemistry-related things have you been doing that you don't think are worthy of starting threads?
Yesterday I started a barbecue using shredded documents and potassium nitrate which I was VERY lucky to find. I ended up using too much potassium
nitrate and created a giant pillar of smoke that rose far above our house.
Also, when I get into university (in one week!) I plan on joining the American Chemical Society Student Affiliates. I'm especially interested in doing
outreach in public schools.
At the end of the day, simulating atoms doesn't beat working with the real things...
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arkoma
Redneck Overlord
Posts: 1763
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I've been fooling with Encelia Farinosa. WILL start a thread on it soon, I think. Extracted the leaves with ethyl acetate (dirty product),
and also with n-Heptane followed by weak HCl. After a substituted benzaldehyde in it, but kinda shooting in the dark. Still fun though.
Ya don't mind me asking, what Uni and Major? One of you "kids" is GONNA win a Nobel one of these days.
"We believe the knowledge and cultural heritage of mankind should be accessible to all people around the world, regardless of their wealth, social
status, nationality, citizenship, etc" z-lib
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Bert
Super Administrator
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Mood: " I think we are all going to die. I think that love is an illusion. We are flawed, my darling".
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| Quote: |
Encelia Farinosa...
After a substituted benzaldehyde in it, but kinda shooting in the dark
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So CalTrans likes to plant that as a ground over... And it's a hardy native plant, adapted to a wide range of altitudes and soils?
What % of dry plant material does this "compound of interest" constitute?
https://www.erowid.org/archive/rhodium/pdf/anethole.2c-b.pdf
[Edited on 22-9-2014 by Bert]
[Edited on 22-9-2014 by Bert]
Rapopart’s Rules for critical commentary:
1. Attempt to re-express your target’s position so clearly, vividly and fairly that your target says: “Thanks, I wish I’d thought of putting it
that way.”
2. List any points of agreement (especially if they are not matters of general or widespread agreement).
3. Mention anything you have learned from your target.
4. Only then are you permitted to say so much as a word of rebuttal or criticism.
Anatol Rapoport was a Russian-born American mathematical psychologist (1911-2007).
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arkoma
Redneck Overlord
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The Erowid/Rhodium paper you cite has no bearing on Encelia. Look again. You have the right mol diagram, wrong compound.
Anethole:
3-acetyl-6-methoxybenzaldehyde is what I am after, which is a plant growth inhibitor
As far as I know, has no immediate practical use for any psychoactives. The nickname of the plant is "Incienso"--the Catholic Church used it for
incense in Colonial Mexico.
If I was after Anethole, I'd be buying up spices.
edit-spelling, added that it is a growth inhibitor
[Edited on 9-22-2014 by arkoma]
"We believe the knowledge and cultural heritage of mankind should be accessible to all people around the world, regardless of their wealth, social
status, nationality, citizenship, etc" z-lib
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Amos
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Arkoma, a quick trip to wikipedia says that your plant is also good for making incense! Something I'm definitely interested in. As far as what I'm
doing right now, I just calcined a bunch of iron carbonates to produce a mixture of iron(III) oxide and iron(II,III) oxide(magnetite), and I'm
planning to try to make some ferrofluid with it. This is a project that a mechanical engineer friend of mine wanted me to try; if there's any chance I
can make someone more interested in chemistry, I'll take it.
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xfusion44
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Quote: Originally posted by Brain&Force  | What chemistry-related things have you been doing that you don't think are worthy of starting threads?
Yesterday I started a barbecue using shredded documents and potassium nitrate which I was VERY lucky to find. I ended up using too much potassium
nitrate and created a giant pillar of smoke that rose far above our house.
Also, when I get into university (in one week!) I plan on joining the American Chemical Society Student Affiliates. I'm especially interested in doing
outreach in public schools. |
Does this seems familiar to you? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRtaPlEcEUU&list=UUIgKGG... 
PS: I've been making some anhydrous copper (ii) chloride
[Edited on 27-9-2014 by xfusion44]
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Texium
Administrator
Posts: 4619
Registered: 11-1-2014
Location: Salt Lake City
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Mood: PhD candidate!
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I have not been doing much chemistry lately. I've had a lot of homework (mostly physics), and I have a nasty cold. 
Once I get feeling better, I'm planning on building a nice lab bench for myself. I have almost everything that I need. Right now I use my dad's
workbench, but it always gets cluttered and dirty and I can never keep my stuff there for very long. Having my own space would be a tremendous
improvement.
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Brain&Force
Hazard to Lanthanides
Posts: 1302
Registered: 13-11-2013
Location: UW-Madison
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Mood: Incommensurately modulated
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Ah, sorry to hear about that. 'Tis the season to be sick (and speaking of which, I should probably get a flu shot).
I have a chemistry dept. orientation at my university on Tuesday and classes start on Thursday...oh boy. Taking Organic Chem; I hope I can move up to
honors level in that course, but I know next to nothing about organic chemistry.
And lab space...something I gotta find, and fast. The itch is killing me!
At the end of the day, simulating atoms doesn't beat working with the real things...
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Amos
International Hazard
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| Quote: Originally posted by Brain&Force | Ah, sorry to hear about that. 'Tis the season to be sick (and speaking of which, I should probably get a flu shot).
I have a chemistry dept. orientation at my university on Tuesday and classes start on Thursday...oh boy. Taking Organic Chem; I hope I can move up to
honors level in that course, but I know next to nothing about organic chemistry.
And lab space...something I gotta find, and fast. The itch is killing me! |
I'm guessing you tested out of the prerequisites for organic chem? If so, make you you know resonance structures and hybridization. That's what they
hit me hard with at the beginning of my Organic class, anyway.
And an update on what I'm currently up to; I'm trying my hand at making nearly pure methyl salicylate through a lot of DIY stuff. My lab smells
absolutely wonderful right now.
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Brain&Force
Hazard to Lanthanides
Posts: 1302
Registered: 13-11-2013
Location: UW-Madison
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Mood: Incommensurately modulated
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Pssssh...I already covered that in AP Chem! But I think I need to look at hybridization again. I could be taking honors chem in the lower division but
I don't want to do that.
At the end of the day, simulating atoms doesn't beat working with the real things...
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subsecret
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I've been working on isolating vanillin from artificial vanilla extract. I did an extraction with 4 x 20 mL ethyl acetate and 150 mL of extract, and I
then added the EtOAc to water and heated it up, removing the EtOAc. This allows easy recrystallization of the vanillin.
Fear is what you get when caution wasn't enough.
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arkoma
Redneck Overlord
Posts: 1763
Registered: 3-2-2014
Location: On a Big Blue Marble hurtling through space
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pissing in the wind...started with 2.7gm salicylic acid. Total Phenol xtals at end? couple hundred milligrams.. Was fun though---mm not right
word--but neither is exciting. You guys know the feeling
"We believe the knowledge and cultural heritage of mankind should be accessible to all people around the world, regardless of their wealth, social
status, nationality, citizenship, etc" z-lib
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elementcollector1
International Hazard
Posts: 2684
Registered: 28-12-2011
Location: The Known Universe
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Mood: Molten
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Been working in an undergraduate research lab on polyurethane properties. Kind of fun, really, although I don't know much about polymer science.
Elements Collected:52/87
Latest Acquired: Cl
Next in Line: Nd
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UnintentionalChaos
International Hazard
Posts: 1454
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Location: Mars
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Mood: Nucleophilic
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| Quote: Originally posted by arkoma | | pissing in the wind...started with 2.7gm salicylic acid. Total Phenol xtals at end? couple hundred milligrams.. Was fun though---mm not right
word--but neither is exciting. You guys know the feeling |
Dat mechanical loss...
Any reason to not just go a bottle of extra strength uncoated aspirin tabs for $5 and work the entire thing up into phenol?
Department of Redundancy Department - Now with paperwork!
'In organic synthesis, we call decomposition products "crap", however this is not a IUPAC approved nomenclature.' -Nicodem
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Bezaleel
Hazard to Others
Posts: 444
Registered: 28-2-2009
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Mood: transitional
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I dried a solution of nickel hydroxide in nitric acid in a vacuum dessiccator over NaOH prills. The initially formed green crystals had completely
withered after one day.
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The Volatile Chemist
International Hazard
Posts: 1981
Registered: 22-3-2014
Location: 'Stil' in the lab...
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Salt water analysis. Just for fun. Since I'm on vacation at the moment, itching to get back and test a sample 
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Metacelsus
International Hazard
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Mood: Double, double, toil and trouble
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I've been working on building an electric furnace.
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The Volatile Chemist
International Hazard
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Location: 'Stil' in the lab...
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Really Cheddite?
Have any pics/schemas/descriptions of how your doing it?
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Metacelsus
International Hazard
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I've got some Nichrome wire, refractory bricks, and kaowool.
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Cou
National Hazard
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Mood: Mad Scientist
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Just fooling around heating various substances with my meker burner. I discovered that if you heat candle wax to boiling, it, for some reason, reacts
with plant matter by bubbling and turning the wax dark.
Also discovered that boiling olive oil STINKS. 
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smaerd
International Hazard
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Registered: 23-1-2010
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Mood: hmm...
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I've been mostly studying, too much other stuff on-top of said studying. About to take my GRE in a few days. Working on building some apparatii in my
nonexistent spare-time between battling serious depression and other nonesense. What can ya do?
My current research project is kinda cool though. Some sort of novel chemical sensor if it works. It won't. That's research hahaha. Makes it fun.
Made a tiny solenoid the other day going to see if it has any effect on a certain kind of isomerism(it won't). That's why it's fun. Blessings to all
of ya, doing your home experimenting. Missing it big time over here.
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Amos
International Hazard
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| Quote: Originally posted by Cou | Just fooling around heating various substances with my meker burner. I discovered that if you heat candle wax to boiling, it, for some reason, reacts
with plant matter by bubbling and turning the wax dark.
Also discovered that boiling olive oil STINKS. |
If you think that is bad, you should try dissolving some sulfur in it first! Hands-down my least pleasant olfactory experience in chemistry.
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Cou
National Hazard
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| Quote: Originally posted by No Tears Only Dreams Now | | Quote: Originally posted by Cou | Just fooling around heating various substances with my meker burner. I discovered that if you heat candle wax to boiling, it, for some reason, reacts
with plant matter by bubbling and turning the wax dark.
Also discovered that boiling olive oil STINKS. |
If you think that is bad, you should try dissolving some sulfur in it first! Hands-down my least pleasant olfactory experience in chemistry.
|
Didn't know you could dissolve sulfur in oil.
MY worst olfactory experience was when I tried mixing sodium bromide with sulfuric acid, and it made this very bad smelling brown vapor that made
bromine. But I think the reaction also makes sulfur dioxide, which reacts with the bromine to make hydrobromic acid and sulfuric acid. So it's kinda
like an equilibrium reaction. It smells sorta like BBQed chlorine
[Edited on 1-10-2014 by Cou]
[Edited on 1-10-2014 by Cou]
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Amos
International Hazard
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| Quote: Originally posted by Cou | | Quote: Originally posted by No Tears Only Dreams Now | | Quote: Originally posted by Cou | Just fooling around heating various substances with my meker burner. I discovered that if you heat candle wax to boiling, it, for some reason, reacts
with plant matter by bubbling and turning the wax dark.
Also discovered that boiling olive oil STINKS. |
If you think that is bad, you should try dissolving some sulfur in it first! Hands-down my least pleasant olfactory experience in chemistry.
|
Didn't know you could dissolve sulfur in oil.
MY worst olfactory experience was when I tried mixing sodium bromide with sulfuric acid, and it made this very bad smelling brown vapor that was
either bromine or hydrogen bromide. The smell of bromine is like a BBQ version of chlorine... |
Yup! Sulfur is actually pretty soluble in heated olive oil, but not in a pretty way. The oil was so thick that it never settled out once cooled, and
it dispersed the sulfur so finely that I think the two started vaporising together. If you ever want to do horrible horrible things to a person, I
suggest spilling a sulfur solution in olive oil all over their carpet.
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Cou
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Yea, my meker burner easily boils sulfur into a gas
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