Tuesday, October 19, 2010

don't try this at home



fun fact: synthetic microwaves can generate a lot of power. make sure to use an appropriately-sized vial for the scale of your reaction (not too big, or the above will happen; not too small or you'll generate too much pressure), or else you'll have learned nothing from joel's stupid mistake. nothing!

here's the protective sleeve that the vial sat in to protect the rest of the instrument from dolts like me:

3 comments:

Patrick said...

but... what if... i WANT to try this at home?

Joel Kelly said...

Well, uh, don't tell them I told you how to do this?

The problem is also caused by nonpolar reagents, which require a lot of power to heat up, and particulate matter (nanoparticles in my case) which washed onto the side of the flask and superheated, leading to the molteny goodness above.

So there's that.

Will said...

I've wanted to try some microwave syntheses, I'm in the process of finding someone nearby who will let me play with their microwave.

I suppose if I do, I should avoid doing things like this to their materials...