Comments on: Stank http://www.coronene.com/blog/?p=705 A chemistry blog about organic materials, nanocrap, life in the lab and kittens Fri, 10 Sep 2010 22:53:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: carbn http://www.coronene.com/blog/?p=705&cpage=1#comment-9768 carbn Sun, 30 May 2010 15:31:21 +0000 http://www.coronene.com/blog/?p=705#comment-9768 Anyone smelled THT (tetrahydrothiophene)? One of our postdocs had the marvellous idea to use it as a solvent for Au anions a year or so ago. It needed to be distilled over Na for 3 days to dry it, during which time just about everyone on the floor complained about the unholy smell (despite it being properly in a fumehood). In the end, we only used about 20 mL of the 2 litres or so we distilled. This went into its own special waste container that we got round to getting rid of a month or so ago. Actually disposing of the solvents was unremarkable (except for the smell..., and having to bin my labcoat that I spilled a *tiny* amount on), but the container was rinsed out by filling it with water twice, acetone, the contents of our normal solvent waste, and our chlorinated waste. It still smells so bad that we can't take it out of the cupboard without the lab instantly smelling of THT. The remnants sit in sealed ampoules. My supervisor has just asked me to get rid of it this week :(. Anyone smelled THT (tetrahydrothiophene)? One of our postdocs had the marvellous idea to use it as a solvent for Au anions a year or so ago. It needed to be distilled over Na for 3 days to dry it, during which time just about everyone on the floor complained about the unholy smell (despite it being properly in a fumehood).

In the end, we only used about 20 mL of the 2 litres or so we distilled. This went into its own special waste container that we got round to getting rid of a month or so ago. Actually disposing of the solvents was unremarkable (except for the smell…, and having to bin my labcoat that I spilled a *tiny* amount on), but the container was rinsed out by filling it with water twice, acetone, the contents of our normal solvent waste, and our chlorinated waste. It still smells so bad that we can’t take it out of the cupboard without the lab instantly smelling of THT.

The remnants sit in sealed ampoules. My supervisor has just asked me to get rid of it this week :( .

]]> By: ericthesalmon http://www.coronene.com/blog/?p=705&cpage=1#comment-6836 ericthesalmon Wed, 20 May 2009 04:48:48 +0000 http://www.coronene.com/blog/?p=705#comment-6836 I'll back you up on that. Peanut butter, with a bit of the standard amine fishiness underneath. I’ll back you up on that.
Peanut butter, with a bit of the standard amine fishiness underneath.

]]> By: LiqC http://www.coronene.com/blog/?p=705&cpage=1#comment-6733 LiqC Tue, 05 May 2009 21:40:16 +0000 http://www.coronene.com/blog/?p=705#comment-6733 I LOVE C7-C10 straight-chain alkanes. Hexane smell is too weak. Undecane is already too much on the kerosene side. But heptane through decane are awesome. I heard somewhere that it is not alkanes that we smell but rather the trace amounts of corresponding alkenes. Don't quote me on that. I LOVE C7-C10 straight-chain alkanes. Hexane smell is too weak. Undecane is already too much on the kerosene side. But heptane through decane are awesome.

I heard somewhere that it is not alkanes that we smell but rather the trace amounts of corresponding alkenes. Don’t quote me on that.

]]> By: Denise http://www.coronene.com/blog/?p=705&cpage=1#comment-6654 Denise Tue, 28 Apr 2009 05:46:10 +0000 http://www.coronene.com/blog/?p=705#comment-6654 Pyridine smells like a whiff of chocolate chip cookies followed immediately by a sucker-punch of extreme nausea. I loathe it. I'd rather have the NEt3 or some such which while pungent does not taunt me with the whiff of something delicious. I also believe the hydrolysis product of tert-butyldimethylsilyl chloride smells like rotting cabbage. I think the food- and ex-food smells hit me harder than the other noxious smells. I'm counting methyl mercaptan as an ex-food smell. I swear I can produce it under exactly the wrong intestinal circumstances. Pyridine smells like a whiff of chocolate chip cookies followed immediately by a sucker-punch of extreme nausea. I loathe it. I’d rather have the NEt3 or some such which while pungent does not taunt me with the whiff of something delicious.

I also believe the hydrolysis product of tert-butyldimethylsilyl chloride smells like rotting cabbage.

I think the food- and ex-food smells hit me harder than the other noxious smells. I’m counting methyl mercaptan as an ex-food smell. I swear I can produce it under exactly the wrong intestinal circumstances.

]]> By: Hamish http://www.coronene.com/blog/?p=705&cpage=1#comment-6653 Hamish Tue, 28 Apr 2009 05:05:46 +0000 http://www.coronene.com/blog/?p=705#comment-6653 Excellent :D I'm so glad I'm not the only one who thinks piperidine smells like jizz. Haha. I also agree wholeheartedly about pyridine - it's RANK..... As for the good smells.... diethyl ether.... MMMMmmmm, and toluene is yummy too. I don't mind acetone either, considering i practically bath in the stuff when I do a lot of my washing up :) Excellent :D I’m so glad I’m not the only one who thinks piperidine smells like jizz. Haha. I also agree wholeheartedly about pyridine – it’s RANK…..

As for the good smells…. diethyl ether…. MMMMmmmm, and toluene is yummy too. I don’t mind acetone either, considering i practically bath in the stuff when I do a lot of my washing up :)

]]> By: Wavefunction http://www.coronene.com/blog/?p=705&cpage=1#comment-6642 Wavefunction Mon, 27 Apr 2009 18:23:26 +0000 http://www.coronene.com/blog/?p=705#comment-6642 In fact the frat boys could use their own sperm to do this? In fact the frat boys could use their own sperm to do this?

]]> By: milkshake http://www.coronene.com/blog/?p=705&cpage=1#comment-6639 milkshake Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:00:29 +0000 http://www.coronene.com/blog/?p=705#comment-6639 its because it exists mostly as the tautomeric 2-thiopyridone, and it is a crystalline solid too - with mp 130C - so the vapor tension is pretty low its because it exists mostly as the tautomeric 2-thiopyridone, and it is a crystalline solid too – with mp 130C – so the vapor tension is pretty low

]]> By: Chemoptoplex http://www.coronene.com/blog/?p=705&cpage=1#comment-6638 Chemoptoplex Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:53:21 +0000 http://www.coronene.com/blog/?p=705#comment-6638 I've used way too much thiophenol, bleach is my friend. Oddly, 2-mercaptopyridine which you would think would be the heinous hell child of two infamous stinks is practically odorless. It has a faint garlicky odor, but if someone opened a jar of it next to you, you'd probably never even know. I’ve used way too much thiophenol, bleach is my friend. Oddly, 2-mercaptopyridine which you would think would be the heinous hell child of two infamous stinks is practically odorless. It has a faint garlicky odor, but if someone opened a jar of it next to you, you’d probably never even know.

]]> By: Hap http://www.coronene.com/blog/?p=705&cpage=1#comment-6637 Hap Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:28:44 +0000 http://www.coronene.com/blog/?p=705#comment-6637 anything that takes time from drinking to excess and attempting to bed young sorority women is probably <i>verboten</i>. anything that takes time from drinking to excess and attempting to bed young sorority women is probably verboten.

]]> By: Hap http://www.coronene.com/blog/?p=705&cpage=1#comment-6636 Hap Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:28:24 +0000 http://www.coronene.com/blog/?p=705#comment-6636 oops. oops.

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