Accidents happen without sign. really?
1. LAH explosion.
years ago when we still have LAH pellets in the lab, you have to powder it to use.
One day I was puhching it in an open container. Suddenly there was an explosion. Not a big one, but really scaring. Hopfully there was only 1 pellet of LAH. only the powder of LAH cautht on fire, the pellet was still intact.
2. another LAH story.
when I quench a LAH reduction(big scale), water was first used. You are supposed to add water slowly. But how slow? I don't konw. One day, addition of water was a little quicker , but still under control, I thought. Then suddenly, boom... liquid in the bottle jumped out. Hopfully, there was no stopper on the neck and I was not touched. What happened? the water added was coated by LAH, when the stirring is not quick enough to break the water drop, it will explode.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
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1 comment:
Reminds me of the time I went to do a cleavage with sodium periodate. The procedure indicated "slow addition" of the reagent to the diol. Similar to your story, how do you define "slow"? After the sealed flask exploded in a cloud of purple smoke, I learned that "slow" does not equal over 2 min. Slow, in this case, was over 2 hours.
Always remember.. oxidants happen!
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