Monday morning marked the due date for the last of my thermo problem sets, leaving me with an unexpectedly free week before the examination madness hits. This is a very good thing because it means that I can spend tons of time this week in my lab. Due to a series of mishaps including a malfunctioning drying oven, I haven't gotten a lot done these past couple weeks. This week has been different. This week I am synthesizing and working up my compound even if it kills me.
My marathon lab session began on Monday. It was snowing outside, so I was happy to be inside where there was heat.
![A window overlooking a snowy Finney Chapel](/sites/default/files/content/blog-import/pictures/Zoe/lab5.JPG) |
No heat outside. |
The first thing I did was set up a computer and find a website streaming the Prop 8 Trial. That done, the chemistry began.
![A laptop sits at a desk](/sites/default/files/content/blog-import/pictures/Zoe/lab6.JPG) |
Prop 8 Trial. My favorite part was when the judge would try to be a little funny and everyone else would feel very awkward and maybe laugh a little. |
My reaction, as far as reactions go, is pretty straightforward. You dissolve some white powder in a solvent, add another chemical, and chemistry happens. Of course it's more complicated than that, but that's the basic idea.
![A lab window during an experiment](/sites/default/files/content/blog-import/pictures/Zoe/lab7.JPG) |
Setup for my reaction, properly clipped so that nothing falls over and spills precious product/reactant everywhere. |
![an open notebook next to a scale](/sites/default/files/content/blog-import/pictures/Zoe/lab8.JPG) |
Getting ready to weigh my white powder. |
One of the "more complicated" bits of my reaction is that after the chemistry starts happening, the whole system has to sit under a process known as reflux for about twenty-eight hours. The good thing about this is that it gives you an excuse not to go to lab for twenty-eight hours. The bad thing is that there's no instant gratification.
![Tubes inside of a lab](/sites/default/files/content/blog-import/pictures/Zoe/lab9.JPG) |
Reflux: not an instantaneous process. |
Tuesday, reflux had to continue happening until 7:00 PM, so I didn't have much to do in lab. I did, however, dry some acetone, because I knew that shortly I was going to need it. Then Wednesday it was time for more fun. It's a little-reported fact, but organic chemistry in general is actually composed mainly of working up your product. Doing the actual reactions takes very little time. It's all in the purification.
![A measuring glass holding yellow liquid](/sites/default/files/content/blog-import/pictures/Zoe/lab10.JPG) |
The product of twenty-eight hours worth of refluxing. See all that white solid on the bottom? I want to get rid of all that. |
I got rid of the solid by filtering it out. Then I used a fancy contraption known as a rotovap to evaporate off my solvent. A rotovap lowers the pressure of a sample so that it can boil at lower temperatures. It's a really cool--and useful--piece of lab gear.
![A contraption with liquid inside of a glass](/sites/default/files/content/blog-import/pictures/Zoe/lab11.JPG) |
Rotovap, not currently rotary evaporating. |
After the session with the rotovap, I had more solid to filter off. This was actually expected, and therefore a good thing.
![A hand pours liquid out of a glass](/sites/default/files/content/blog-import/pictures/Zoe/lab12.JPG) |
Filtering. |
![Tubes and measuring glasses in a lab](/sites/default/files/content/blog-import/pictures/Zoe/lab13.JPG) |
More filtering. Look at that gorgeous product. |
After the filtering, I rotovapped again before storing my lovely product in the refrigerator so that it doesn't ridiculously degrade by the time Friday rolls around. Because, yes, I will be back in lab on Friday, working on further purifying my product.
![a measuring glass submerged in water](/sites/default/files/content/blog-import/pictures/Zoe/lab14.JPG) |
The final rotovap. |