Extractions&Ire - 2021-02-07
We battle spiders, stream commenters and the crushing pressure of time to deprotect a ketal group with DCM and HCl, closer to our cubane goal. Will TLC plates be our saviour? Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/ExplosionsAndFire/ Join the Discord!! https://discord.gg/VR6Fz9g Twitter: https://twitter.com/Explosions_Fire Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ExplosionsandFire Music is as usual from the Aphex Twin soundcloud dump, track names are: - 14 07 B - 8LinmiriBradleyStryder - taut References: 1997 Lab scale paper: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/244572672_Dimethyl_Cubane-14-dicarboxylate_A_Practical_Laboratory_Scale_Synthesis 2013 Pilot Scale: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/op400181g "Cubane Derivatives for Propellant Applications" 1989 https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA210368.pdf
I’m a micro/molecular biologist and I saw this channel: was like, “sounds cool”, several binge watching sessions later I’m like “I don’t understand a fucking thing that’s going on but this is fucking amazing!”
Genuinely thinking of doing some home brew microbiology shit in my shed because of this, maybe I’ll make an algae that sets itself on fire
If you modified an algae to produce a good amount of oil with the right structure it could technically self combust under the right conditions
Case in point cotton soaked in linseed oil has been known to cause housefires
You would also have a way of producing your own biofuel which would be cool I guess
If you want some inspiration you should check out The Thought Emporium, he's done some wild experiments at home.
Self immolating algae sounds neat
"I'm gonna deviate from that slightly" - it's going to go yellow, isn't it.
It wasn't yellow this time!!!! ....just tar
@Extractions&Ire 🎉TAR!🎉
Tar is much preferred to y e l l o w
@Craig Schanz Good ol'reliable Tar.
Imagine getting yellow tar
Telling a big spider he’s not that big and to “leave mate” has gotta be the most Australian thing ever
@D R Bunny meanwhile China declared war on sparrows resulting in 15-55 million human casualties.
@Meme Magic wait what
@Ion striker China was having problems with food production. Sparrows ate some of the crops so they started killing them. Sparrows also eat other pests that eat crops. By the time Mao Zedong was informed of this it was too late. A massive swarm of locusts that the Sparrows would have normally eaten then ate massive amounts of crops making the food problems worse and leading to a 5 year famine, in which 15-55 million people died.
@Meme Magic This is why you want ecologists in your government.
6:27 "They are disposable."
So are molecular sieves, but that hasn't stopped you from reusing them.
@Extractions&Ire not after the KMnO4. Anything that dissolves the MnO2 will almost certainly dissolve the aluminum. Maybe if you had shit tons of dirt cheap EDTA. But it would be cheaper to get more plates.
@Extractions&Ire you can make TLC plates from microscope slides pretty easily and re-use the slides. Mix a stationary phase (ex. alumina) with a binder and add water and coat the microscope slides with it, as the binder (ex. plaster) hardens it will thicken up and solidify.
I'm offended; molsieves aren't just something you throw away :'(( If you've only used them to dry relatively pure solvents, it's pretty normal to dry and reuse them
dont try to reuse TLC plate
@Avael this sounds cool, do you have a video attempting this?
As a fellow chemistry student, I will miss the chemistry you are doing on youtube. All the best to u!
Thanks mate!
@Extractions&Ire wait how long is the break you're taking from youtube?
as a previously-high-school-level chemistry student, I second this sentiment
Be honest with us:
You are taking the brake to have the uni chem lab for a year for yourself, without distractions, to develop the worlds first yellow, tarry high explosive
Hey Tom, finally something I can comment on!
Here are a few pointers if u wanna run this TLC again:
ur TLCs look like the spots were too concentrated. I think u could get a much better one by diluting down ur standard and rxn mix samples by 50% or more.
Also, hypodermic needles with the tip cut off using side cutters work really well to make nice, small TLC spots.
Anyway, I’m gonna really miss watching ur videos during your break! Good luck and cheers from the US!
I'm sure this is good advice, but it does my head in seeing it discussed in txt spk. :)
nice to see you haven't been yoinked away for a year. yet.
Only because I was slow to finish this video aw
I for one am excited to see tom's yanking. Yoinking? Idk.
@T nice sentiment, but holy fuck could you have chosen any worse wording
@ImBadAtGames yeah that was the point
It's nice to see you doing tlc, since that is part of my bread and butter everyday! (Was a bit painful to watch though lol)
Yeah I gotta get better at it... But have to start somewhere!
yea that's true! As long as you can get the relevant information it did its job right
You know Tom, long experience has taught me the truth of "Let it sit, goes to shit" with synthesis. Just saying for next time you want to stop a reaction and let it hang out for a few days.
Yes, leaving reactions like this is not something I like to do.... hopefully when I'm back again, I'll have more time to do things in a day, rather than rushing off and having to come back a week later!
Been waiting for this. Thanks Tom for all the entertainment. Best of luck with the thesis and job! Will be looking forward to your return
Your first try with the TLC plate I thought "That's a lot, but it might be okay?" and then you put MORE on it and I was like o.o
"I'm going to deviate slightly" -> predict yellow disaster
Recipe for permanganate staining solution : in 300ml of water, add 3g of permanganate, 20g of potassium carbonate, and 5 ml of 5% NaOH. Stir well to dissolve, keep in a brown jar away from heat and the sun
(or the permanganate will break down)
(need to make fresh every 3-5 months or just filter the MnO2 and add more permanganate)
Ok, so there's a base element to it as well, didn't know this, thanks!
Hell yeah that’s how I like my cubane reagents: deprotectected.
Also I’m sitting here perfectly happy watching this even though I watched the meta live stream filming of this episode 🤣
This process is becoming increasingly more mysterious and arcane... I absolutely love it! ❤️❤️❤️
TLC plate so, TLC obviously stands for:
Time, Love and Care,
because you only do it when you actually give a shit about the outcome of your reaction.
– Extractions&Ire (2021)
Goes to my quote list together with NurdRages CRaP XD
Just curious, which NurdRage vid was that?
That seems like one hell of a difficult gig, particularly in small volumes?
Yeah the concentration seems very high, maybe because you need two phases to react with reach other? Usually don't run reactions at 1g/ml type concentrations
But what other option do you have, really? Not like you can start the whole process with large enough volumes to create several batches large enough for each step of the way. Well into the art of it at this scale. So many variables!!!!
Anyone else here that knows nothing about chemistry but still enjoys watch the mad scientist do his work?
Those long smears on the first TLC plate really bring me back to the good old days ❤
You're one of the best chemistry YouTubers out there and one of my favorite YouTubers period. Please come back some day!
What counts as “room temperature” in Australia?
Any temperature below the point where people start saying "hot enough for ya?".
Your videos convinced me that I can do more mundane chemistry at home without killing myself. If you're able to manage in a shed while the sun tries to murder you down in Australia I think I can manage in my backyard. Wish you the best
TLC stands for time, love and care XD
Yeah looks like he needs some THICC layer chromatography.
Going to miss your chemistry exploits while you're away. Watching this channel makes me feel young again, I've not stepped foot in a chemistry lab for over twenty years! As for your TLC technique, please, get some spotters. You can make them yourself really easily with a thin glass tube and a propane torch, just heat the middle spinning it between your fingers and pull apart. You're permanganate solution should be much stronger too.
Hey Tom, I know I'm really late on this and maybe you've found a solution since then, but I always make really nice spotters for TLC by heating the thick part of a glass Pasteur pipette with a Bunsen burner (or any propane torch really) until it softens, and then quickly removing it from the flame and stretching out to arms' width. You can easily get 5 or 6 good spotters from each pipette once you get the hang of it!
I play the carbon tet drinking game. Been sober for years, thanks for the reason to take a sip of whiskey.
That last scene with the cans looks like a amazing success! Congratulations!
10:58 that's a knob, you drew a knob and balls in profile on the plate
it has to be.
I did wonder "that's just a tiny little spider, why is he poking it with a stick?" Then I remembered; it's a tiny AUSTRALIAN spider. Something that size probably has enough venom to melt an elephant.
Yeah, Aussies are a tough bunch...
Man you are one of the best science channels on the internet and most well researched chemistry
Good luck over the break, we'll miss you!!
I’ll miss your content, you make amazing stuff even though I know nothing about chemistry
Great video Tom, we will miss you a lot! Didn't see a coment about it, but you could mix DCM and hexane in a 9:1 ratio to lower the polarity of the solvent and maybe get a better separation. Anyways, what you do here is awersome and I hope that you PhD goes really well!
Gonna miss these videos. Can't wait for season 2! :D
These videos always brighten my day! Your content will be missed in our feed but we know it is for the best. Thank you for putting so much into this channel and best of luck in your Ph.D! Your discord community will keep the science alive until you're ready to return
After retirement from research chemistry I thought I would lose interest in reaction pathways. But this i find interesting. BTW, pull glass capillaries for TLC.
Good luck on your 'break' mate! I look forward to seeing you come back with those bloody hard earned three letters after your name
I’m very sad :( see you in a year, my favorite Aussie chemist!
Hell yeah it's TLC time! Love a good TLC. Reminds me of the scuffed kinetics test I did for advanced integrated II
"The tlc plates are single use"
They're single use if your lab is funded properly. If you let them chill in methanol for a day or two they'll show clean on uv lamp :)
Oh nvm, the permanganate will fuck it
This is a good tip though thanks!
@Nick Coradi Mmyes, I love acetic acid :pp Very good tip, though!!
If you gently heat the pipette while pulling the tip you can stretch it out and make it way thinner. Works for hose too if you have 3/8" and you need 1/4" for example.
I think your use of TLC plates went well! I used them a few years ago during research. Glass pipette tips work best for plate application. You don't even need to press that hard, the liquids usually absorb themselves onto the plate with little effort.
At the lab I work at we use mason jars for TLC. Honestly that marmalade jar looks perfect to do TLC with.
Great video! Enjoy the break :)
See you later dude, hope everything goes well!
SO CLOSE, the needle TLC spotter is the friend of many research chemists. Usually from those long sterican needles you had but I preferred the highest gauge I could get my hands on. Cutting and filing the needle to a even, blunt end was a process that made you a legend if you did it for others. Same with grinding down broken nmr tubes to flat ends.
Long time listened, first time caller. Glad to see your channel going as it's going. Good for you for doing the good stuff
As an organic chemist I'd say good job on the TLC. Given what limited ressources you had to work with you deserve a gold star for getting any result. If only you hadn't already forgotten about the TLC plates by the end of the synthesis. It could tell you if the white stuff is the same as your starting material.
By the way cutting a syringe needle in half with a scissor is indeed how I do it in the lab. It yields a nice and small exit hole.
PS: That TLC joke was awesome. I'll steal it in the future
Extractions&Ire - 2021-02-07
Yeah this is the last video before the break. It was meant to be done 2 weeks ago but yes, the chemistry hates to be rushed obviously
Blender Anima - 2021-02-14
after your break could you show tests of uranyl nitrate + some type of fuel
have a good break :)
WesternLynx - 2021-02-17
Can you do a storytime after the break about the illegal glass shipment you received awhile back? I love your stuff man.
unknow unknown - 2021-03-02
Come back with octonitrocurbane or Mercury fulminate and rdx reaction
You are legend
Dylan James - 2021-03-19
Miss your uploads man, I hope your having a great break from the stress of YouTube though! Best wishes from CA!
Moon Games - 2022-02-16
WD40 rubbed into the label and allowed to soak in for 20 - 30 mins will make the label easier to remove with a knife or a razor blade.