Making Aspirin into Picric Acid (TNP)

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  • Опубліковано 22 вер 2023
  • In this video I synthesize the explosive compound picric acid or trinitrophenol from plain aspirin.
    PLEASE READ: I do not recommend anyone but trained professionals attempt this process due to several significant hazards associated with the synthesis and storage of this chemical. In this video (especially near the end) I made a few dry jokes downplaying the dangers associated with this chemical. These jokes were excessively dry and upon rewatching my own video I see how they could be easily taken as serious notes on the process. That said, I just want to be clear that this is chemical has the potential to be VERY hazardous.
    I intentionally made a very small amount, but with compounds that can potentially undergo rapid decomposition, safety is a very fine line. Just a few grams more than I made could be the difference between a loud pop and some broken glass, and something that could cause severe injury.
    Also keep in mind that metal picrate formation is only really a concern during storage (the small amount I made here using a sodium salt and a metal thermometer was removed in the recrystallization). That said, I don't recommend storing this chemical at all, and I destroyed this sample after I finished filming. Its my opinion that this chemical does not have enough practical uses to balance the risk of keeping it around, but I find this synthesis an excellent educational model.
    If you do insist on storing this chemical, it MUST be stored with at least 15% of its mass of water. It should also be checked and re-wetted periodically. This would be a bad thing to forget to do so again I'd just skip this on anything beyond the 2-5g scale.
    BTW this was done on request.. although its been several months so I forget who asked I do this one..
    #chemistry #science #hydrogen #gas #elements #fire #chemical #industury #color

КОМЕНТАРІ • 324

  • @NuclearTopSpot
    @NuclearTopSpot 8 місяців тому +172

    Yesterday: Ammonium Nitrate from garden supplies
    Today: Picric Acid from Aspirin
    Tomorrow: Weapons-Grade plutonium from old glassware and clock dials (how to build a breeder reactor)

    • @r.gilman4261
      @r.gilman4261 8 місяців тому +13

      I just use old smoke detector ionizing units...but that's just me :)

    • @EddieTheH
      @EddieTheH 8 місяців тому +7

      @@r.gilman4261 Yeah, the old soviet ones have a reasonable amount of Pu (some had a few mg). There was a guy on YT selling them for a while before the Ukrainian bollocks ruined it.

    • @davidedwards9157
      @davidedwards9157 8 місяців тому +5

      Yeah, every subscriber is now On A List(tm)...

    • @robertharper3754
      @robertharper3754 8 місяців тому

      @@davidedwards9157 if you're not on a few lists by now are you really living life?

    • @thomasbonse
      @thomasbonse 8 місяців тому +1

      Such a nuclear boy scout. 😉

  • @EddieTheH
    @EddieTheH 8 місяців тому +115

    It does indeed stain things yellow forever. Fabric dye is actually one of its main industrial uses.

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому +11

      I thought so but I wasn't 100% certain it was still used for that these days^^ it certainly does a good job lol

    • @EddieTheH
      @EddieTheH 8 місяців тому +9

      @@integral_chemistry Yeah, I think it's mainly Asian countries. I think it's not used in the west simply because it requires more paperwork!

    • @cezarcatalin1406
      @cezarcatalin1406 8 місяців тому +1

      @@integral_chemistry
      It’s literally permayellow

    • @thomasbonse
      @thomasbonse 8 місяців тому +3

      I couldn't help but wonder, after all those warnings about metal interactions, of course. Could this be able to stain stainless steel?

    • @pixelpatter01
      @pixelpatter01 8 місяців тому +2

      It was used on silk.

  • @arnoldcohen1250
    @arnoldcohen1250 8 місяців тому +39

    Butesin picrate ointment was used for years for burns. As a child my arm was severely scalded and was treated with the ointment. My arm was yellow for many weeks after the dressings were removed. It did heal perfectly, however. In an age of instrumental analysis, it is great to see old school wet chemistry in action.

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому +8

      Thank you! That was honestly why I started the channel, spent so long in school learning chemistry only to find we chemists don't really do much chemistry anymore..
      Love to hear a firsthand account confirming that this stuff does actually work well to heal burns btw

  • @stamasd8500
    @stamasd8500 8 місяців тому +55

    FWIW you can buy almost pure aspirin with no fillers and in powdered form if you look for aspirin intended for animal use (horses in particular). And it's really cheap too. This would bypass the need for the initial dissolution/recrystallization step.

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому +20

      huh.. I should definitely look into that, considering I use aspirin as a starting product fairly often. Thanks for the tip!

    • @stamasd8500
      @stamasd8500 8 місяців тому

      @@integral_chemistry The product name is "aniprin P" - the P is key, that's the one which is pure aspirin. There are other versions like F etc which have mixed other stuff in.

    • @odissey2
      @odissey2 7 місяців тому +2

      I think the whole point was to make it the hard way. Otherwise one can simply nitrate the phenol.

    • @bromisovalum8417
      @bromisovalum8417 2 місяці тому

      You can also jut get pure salicylic acid cheaply, it's used in cosmetics and as a treatment for painful callus on feet.

  • @r9341-tss1
    @r9341-tss1 8 місяців тому +42

    This is a chemical I never wanted to work with in my research because of all the hazards. Respect for making it though, very interesting video.

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому +6

      Thank you! And yeah it was definitely a bit scary to make, although I did some testing after the fact and as long as its kept damp it really has a very hard time undergoing any type of decomposition

    • @r9341-tss1
      @r9341-tss1 8 місяців тому

      @@integral_chemistry I've always found the disposal and toxicity side more scary, not being able to work with significant quantities at a time and in my department, we have to report any picric acid use which means me as an undergraduate, is not gonna have a good time justifying my actions (even if I did work in an energetics lab) xD

    • @nicoschadjidemetriou4373
      @nicoschadjidemetriou4373 5 місяців тому

      As a chemistry reagent it comes 20g pure 100% in a small dark glass bottle. It's not wet it's crystallic and you can keep it for many decades.

  • @jeythegrey
    @jeythegrey 8 місяців тому +49

    "Can turn extremely exlosive when in contact with metals"
    *Uses metal stir rod*
    I hope you're ok ;)

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому +13

      Yeah no idea why I decided to just start using that to stir 😅 I'm okay though, it actually takes a good while for picrates to form

    • @DeweyBlanton-ku7db
      @DeweyBlanton-ku7db 8 місяців тому +2

      I thought that man was going to give a demonstration...😅

  • @nicku1
    @nicku1 8 місяців тому +8

    What made me watch your video was the fact that I had known picric acid since early childhood! My future mother worked during the war as a forced laborer in a German ammunition factory in Altenburg in the Harz. She was forcibly taken there from Poland, along with many of the inhabitants of her town. Picrin was used to fill the bullets in this factory; my mother recalled that the spilled picrin exploded under the influence of the slightest impulse, so her task among others was to constantly mop the floor to remove it. She also told me that people working in this department could be easily recognized by the yellow color of their skin...

  • @cadfael4598
    @cadfael4598 8 місяців тому +5

    As a schoolboy, I used to help the head gardener use picric acid ( he had a huge bottle of it in his storage shed!) to take out tree roots. I never understood the chemistry but it did make some spectacular bangs! Turns out the old boy was an explosives sapper in the war.

  • @RedDogForge
    @RedDogForge 8 місяців тому +22

    i missed my calling in life.
    i should have been a chemist or a tool and die maker.
    study hard kids.
    dont end up with my type of regrets.
    great content.

    • @lanetatom2701
      @lanetatom2701 8 місяців тому +4

      My father is a genius and would have been a heck of a scientist. But his father passed away when he was only 16. He went right to work, giving all his earnings to his mother until he graduated and married. He never got to go to college. He knows a lot and that scares people I think. But he has just been a very hard working man. He came up with several work processes that improved safety and that are still used today, fifty years later.

    • @odissey2
      @odissey2 7 місяців тому +2

      I've been there. Regretfully, chemistry as a profession is now dead. Go become a dentists, kids.

    • @RedDogForge
      @RedDogForge 7 місяців тому +2

      @@odissey2 no! One of the highest suicide rates at one time! ( dunno about now but back in the eighties/nineties)

    • @amirehosseyni
      @amirehosseyni 2 дні тому

      Still not late ;)
      Be a hobbyist

  • @prankmastereight
    @prankmastereight 8 місяців тому +12

    btw helpful tip, remember to be careful of where it touches and if anything does you wash thoroughly otherwise it'll make its way to your hands and later on you'll notice a pretty bitter taste and that's how you know you just ingested a microgram of picric acid

  • @springbloom5940
    @springbloom5940 8 місяців тому +4

    In WWI, picric acid shells were opened and used in field hospitals, to treat burns from picric acid artillery blasts.

  • @DanaWebb2017
    @DanaWebb2017 8 місяців тому +31

    When I was a kid in my teens, I'm sixty-four now. I was all into chemistry sets and collecting all the cool chemicals I would read about. My father took me to a laboratory supply warehouse one day. They had water purification columns, glassware, and various laboratory chemicals and reagents. I was like a kid in a candy store. I proceeded to ask whether he had this and that and got to picric acid, and he said they had to quit selling that because someone tried blowing a safe with it.

    • @ZoonCrypticon
      @ZoonCrypticon 6 місяців тому

      You were lucky. When I was a kid I had no access to chemicals anymore.

    • @user-dc8em3ou2z
      @user-dc8em3ou2z 5 місяців тому

      Wow! Must have been like a kid in a candy factory! Lucky you had a father who enriched you're interest in chemistry!

    • @jtbmetaldesigns
      @jtbmetaldesigns 2 місяці тому

      Well I’m 52 and I can remember have access to potassium nitrate, boric acid, oxalic acid, potassium permanganate, 1,1,1 Trichloroethane (Carbon Tet substitute), sulfur, methyl salicylate, methanol amongst others in local pharmacies. That was well into the 1990s but days long gone.
      Nowadays, I hear people leave reviews on Amazon about how Benzyl Benzoate made their skin burn like acid. To that I say, I doubt benzyl benzoate is supposed to be placed neat on the skin like that🤦‍♂️. That is why chemical compounds are hard to obtain.

    • @bromisovalum8417
      @bromisovalum8417 2 місяці тому +1

      In the old days (even in the 1980s) an interest in chemistry as a kid was seen as a noble thing. Now you are treated like a pariah.

  • @zilog357
    @zilog357 8 місяців тому +11

    Lol, I made some picric acid more than a decade ago and I had my right hand with those bright yellow stains for a month. Hard to explain to people asking because explosives were taboo in those days. If you light it, it will slowly burn very bright yellow and will smell light nitro cotton (nitrocellulose). I like that it crystallizes just like potassium nitrate but yellow instead of white. It won't blow up unless a blasting cap is used, or of course, like you mentioned, it gets mixed with some picratres from metal containers. Oh, by the way, picrates are the ones that give the whistle sound to small firework rockets.

    • @Swamp_Lad
      @Swamp_Lad Місяць тому +1

      😂 yes now explosives are totally OK and go round the office like: those yellow stains? Not that’s not piss that is TNP

  • @7hunderstorm242
    @7hunderstorm242 8 місяців тому +14

    You are very underrated, this was an awesome video !

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому +1

      Thank you so much! 😁 this one was a fun project but hell to edit down (started with 4 hours of footage)

  • @thecountrychemist2561
    @thecountrychemist2561 8 місяців тому +17

    Had to dispose of dried picric acid at work that my boss swore was safe as it sat on that shelf for 30 years without hurting someone. Wonderful time

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому +10

      jesus.. Thats a job for a bomb squad (depending on the bottle size). Impressed you actually agreed to do that

    • @thecountrychemist2561
      @thecountrychemist2561 8 місяців тому +10

      @integralchemistry1849 that's what I said. We had a guy show up to start the disposal process. He just submerged it in water. But he never came back and I finished it. But the water turned yellow after a few days so we knew it made it under the cap.
      It was probably around 100-200 grams. It looked like a 500g bottle.
      It was also stored next to a bunch of oxidizers, hydrocarbons, and heavy metal salts. So much for proper storage of those chemicals.

    • @forwhomthetacobelltolls9789
      @forwhomthetacobelltolls9789 8 місяців тому +9

      God dayum. Chemical literacy man, this is why warehouses explode. Management needs to actually step up and manage things every once in a while.

    • @Tabu11211
      @Tabu11211 8 місяців тому

      wtf xD@@thecountrychemist2561

    • @gordonwedman3179
      @gordonwedman3179 8 місяців тому +3

      I had contract once to inventory the chemical stock of a research lab. Since I didn't know what was there I wore heavy gloves and a face shield. When I came to the 250 gram bottle of picric acid I stopped, informed the lab manager and he called the police who sent over a bomb squad technician who calmly picked it up and took it away.

  • @pcka12
    @pcka12 8 місяців тому +4

    Years back we synthesised aspirin in chemistry labs, Dad who spent WW2 heavily involved in the explosive world warned against picric acid & mentioned it's presence on (especially) German shipwrecks from WW1!

  • @BeardedGeezer
    @BeardedGeezer 8 місяців тому +4

    In the 1970s I had a fly fishing store. We used picric acid to dye feathers yellow for fly tying. I got the picric acid solution from a hospital lab where it was used as a reagent.

    • @johnNJ4024
      @johnNJ4024 8 місяців тому +5

      I used to work as a histology technician in a hospital. We used a picric acid solution as a counter stain for the Modified Brown and Brenn which is used to stain gram-positive bacteria blue, gram-negative bacteria red, and the background yellow. The bacteria don't pick up the picric acid due to their cell walls having low permeability to it. This is probably more information that anyone other than a histotec cares to know, but though I'd throw it out there.

  • @tulsatrash
    @tulsatrash 8 місяців тому +3

    It's fascinating seeing how chemicals that have helped shape history are made.

  • @dano6845
    @dano6845 8 місяців тому +4

    I have a tube of picric acid burn cream that expired in 1996. I still keep it because I can't get more, at least in Australia. Yellow skin stains are a small price to pay when you're treating a painful burn.

  • @defenestrated23
    @defenestrated23 8 місяців тому +6

    Large crystals aren't necessarily better than small ones. For best purity, you ideally want controlled crystallization with agitation. Also for energetics, you especially don't want large crystals, because they are more shock sensitive than small ones.

  • @CoolClearWaterNM
    @CoolClearWaterNM 8 місяців тому +3

    Nice. I remember making those needles in chemistry class back in the 50's. Good to know science basics are still out there if you hunt for them.

  • @thisoldminer
    @thisoldminer 8 місяців тому +5

    They use to use Potassium Picrate in fireworks for the whistles of unbleaveable decibels. :)

  • @TechGorilla1987
    @TechGorilla1987 8 місяців тому +17

    This is as good as Nile Red *used* to be before he created a huge lab only to become a comedian and shorts producer. Your music volume level seems better. It's also not a bad choice. I was critical of your music previously.

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому +1

      Thanks man! And I believe you did, I've been careful not to make the music too overbearing or distracting as it definitely was fairly early in the channel. Thank you so much for the feedback :)

    • @daltonsoutherland8836
      @daltonsoutherland8836 8 місяців тому +8

      I agree Nilered fell off hard and definitely forgot his parent's garage roots 😢

    • @DangerousLab
      @DangerousLab 8 місяців тому +2

      I really missed the good old days where Nilered publish so frequently and every little synthesis in details, I understand his decision on moving on to huge project but the "filler" short-form videos aren't something I really enjoyed too much.

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому +5

      @@DangerousLab I feel that.. I feel that so many creators who make meaningful/academic content start by just wanting to share something they love and find beautiful/interesting with the world, and then once making content becomes their actual living source of income it always seems to become more pandering/outragous/theatrical and loses sight of what so many viewers loved in the first place. I don't watch much UA-cam but the other big example I'm thinking right now is Philosophy Tube. Used to be just person in front of camera explaining dry philosophy which I LOVED and now its a 12-act 45 minute play with named characters, costumes, sets, post-production and its just kinda unwatchable for adults with jobs.

    • @DangerousLab
      @DangerousLab 8 місяців тому

      @@integral_chemistry It is probably so tough to keep up with the original once your income depends on it, it takes so much effort to stay on track as content creator who solely aims to provide meaningful and academic content.
      Please keep up with your great work and continue to provide inspiring chemistry content!

  • @kmac499
    @kmac499 8 місяців тому +2

    Female World War I munitions workers who filled shells with Picric Acid were nicknamed canaries, because of the staining.

  • @zaneenaz4962
    @zaneenaz4962 8 місяців тому +2

    Very eloquently presented. Very respectable yield.

  • @planellas6
    @planellas6 8 місяців тому +11

    Di Nitro Phenol was used as a weight loss supplement a while back but it was made illegal becuase It worked too well lol (gave people hyperthermia by raising their body temperature)... its made the same way as TNP but with a lower nitration temp.

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому +4

      huh.. I didn't know that, but now I'll have to go read about it. Thanks for the info!!

    • @jauld360
      @jauld360 8 місяців тому

      @@integral_chemistry Lookup the video "A Man Swallowed Lab Chemicals To "Lose Weight" And This Happened" by Chubbyemu. DNP was also used in some shell filling compositions, see "From explosives to diet pills: DNP poisoning in Wales".

    • @milesmccollough5507
      @milesmccollough5507 8 місяців тому

      @@integral_chemistry i mean, as a weight loss chemical it definitely helped people lose weight lol. it just did it in a really, really, REALLY dangerous way.
      dinitrophenol is a mitochondrial inductor and uncouples the enzymes responsible for oxidative phosphorylation, causing ATP, glucose, and fatty acids to be recklessly burned by cells which waste a vast amount of energy as heat. the hyperthermia on top of the intense oxidative stress can cause many, many issues and there's no antidote if the overdose is big enough. the only proper care is supportive, similar to the treatment of serotonin syndrome -- IV benzodiazepines to control agitation and any possible seizures, combined with full-body cooling in the form of ice packs and/or refrigerated blankets.

    • @adrianhenle
      @adrianhenle 8 місяців тому

      It was made illegal for human consumption because it is a toxin that inhibits oxidative phosphorylation, and it can easily kill a person.

    • @RobertoHernandez-gp3gu
      @RobertoHernandez-gp3gu 8 місяців тому

      Actually Di nitrophenol don't go away from the body(it is stored in fat tissue). It destroy the "protons" gradient and the mitocondria can't make ATP no more. All the energy of foods gets wasted in to heat. The people get thinner and thinner every day until they die... I'm sure there are some portion of dnp in the mixture of the reaction

  • @shawntailor5485
    @shawntailor5485 8 місяців тому +2

    I remember when pa threw out an old can if burn salve because it was starting to picrate on the lid .

  • @50srefugee
    @50srefugee 8 місяців тому +2

    Best chemistry video I've seen. Especially appreciate "I'll be quiet so you can just watch."

  • @jimsvideos7201
    @jimsvideos7201 8 місяців тому +2

    Beautiful crystals.

  • @cageordie
    @cageordie 7 місяців тому +1

    In my school chemistry lab we had about 3lb of picric acid. I mentioned it to our lab tech, who was former BDX from WWII when he was in the Royal Engineers. He said it was OK because it was wet, I pointed out that it all looked dry and crystalline to me. And that the metal lid of the jar looked wrong. He agreed. So... what happened? Nothing. Two years later when I left the school it was still there. Five years later when I went back to see him before he retired it was still there. So, maybe, there's still a few pounds of unstable high explosive in my old school.

  • @TheZombieSaints
    @TheZombieSaints 8 місяців тому +2

    It looked pretty cool in it's crystalline form, good work 👍👍

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому

      Thank you! And I agree, these are my personal favorite crystals I've ever grown

  • @RobertHawthorne
    @RobertHawthorne 8 місяців тому +3

    Shortly after I was married in 1981, my wife finished school with a teachers certificate and a job teaching at a local high school. One of these schools in a not so well to do area. It just so happens I heard or read a news report about Picric Acid being found in school chemistry labs and if found, it should be removed. I guess there had been some explosive accidents with the stuff. I went to help the wife setup her classroom before the start of the school year and her first teaching job. Her classroom had access to the chemistry storage room. I was interested and looking around in there and found a large glass container labeled Picric Acid. I let the wife know what I found and the news I had heard. She let the principle know, who wasn't very concerned, but would check into it. I noticed the next week that the Picric Acid was gone from the storage room.

    • @browbu1954
      @browbu1954 7 місяців тому

      Did that happen in the Seattle area by any chance? I recall having heard on the news in Seattle of a local high school being evacuated or something when a bottle of picric acid was found in a chemistry lab.

    • @RobertHawthorne
      @RobertHawthorne 7 місяців тому

      @@browbu1954 My event was in Monroe Louisiana.

  • @Jagdtyger2A
    @Jagdtyger2A 8 місяців тому +2

    The original use of picric acid was a very nice yellow dye for silk. But I caution anyone who wants to make it, as it makes very unstable salts when in contact with heavier metals. Some are so unstable as to make nitroglycerine look stable

  • @FredtheDorfDorfman1985
    @FredtheDorfDorfman1985 8 місяців тому +2

    Nitrogen dioxide is what gives nuclear detonation clouds their brown smoky color. It forms when air cools from a plasma formed by absorption of gamma and x-rays, and free N and O ions join. It could be smelled, along with ozone, lingering all around Hiroshima and Nagasaki right after the bombings. Ammonium nitrate detonations, like the one’s in Beirut and Tianjin, also form nitrogen dioxide smoke. The pre-dusk Beirut explosion had rich colors in it and was actually kind of pretty in a creepy sort of way. Very unfortunate.

  • @jamesraymond1158
    @jamesraymond1158 7 місяців тому +1

    Very interesting. Picric acid is the best way to detect trimethylamine oxide, an osmolyte in many marine species. But you can't get it anymore. My sample came from a colleague who had a fireworks permit and could legally obtain picric acid.

  • @mythics791
    @mythics791 8 місяців тому +1

    very cool.

  • @davidconner-shover51
    @davidconner-shover51 8 місяців тому +1

    I remember a download article of exactly this back in the '80s,
    Anarchist Cookbook IIRC

  • @skwalka6372
    @skwalka6372 8 місяців тому +5

    Picric acid by itself is very safe regarding physical handling. It will no detonate through impact such as with a hammer, you need a detonator of similar characteristics as you need to detonate TNT. As the vid makes clear, you must be extremely careful with the metal compounds, the most unstable of which is gold picrate, which can detonate by lightly hitting it with a small pebble.

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому +1

      I hear lead picrate is similarly unstable.. but yeah my own tests definitely agree with you. The reason I didn't do a demo of its detonation is because I honestly couldn't even force it to detonate at small scale, and I didn't want to try anything larger than a half gram since I'm not too familiar with the explosive power of this stuff. Definitely nowhere near a fulminate in terms of reactivity

  • @2001pulsar
    @2001pulsar 8 місяців тому +4

    The red cloud, aka "Creeping Death" due to its density being greater than air.

  • @nikolaiturcan6963
    @nikolaiturcan6963 8 місяців тому +1

    Loved the final ramble on stains

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому

      LMAO I'm glad you appreciated it, a few people on here did not

  • @DerDrako
    @DerDrako 8 місяців тому +1

    I like your colourfull mechanisms. I do the same in my notes.

  • @kennoseworthy6473
    @kennoseworthy6473 2 місяці тому +1

    Keepon ramblin brother!! Some intresing stuff in that as well!!

  • @WilsonPendarvis-tn3wm
    @WilsonPendarvis-tn3wm 8 місяців тому +1

    The clandestine explosive manuals for the army did not go into such detail when making this compound out of aspirin

  • @SciDOCMBC
    @SciDOCMBC 8 місяців тому +34

    The chance that you have already created iron picrate is quite high, considering that you had the entire time the metal probe of your thermometer in the nitrc acid. This is where the green color came from. This carelessness is very dangerous.

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому +22

      Yeah.. I figured that was the case. That's why I only work at extremely small scale like this because it's not uncommon for me to make little errors like that (although I think in general treating thermometers like stir rods occasionally is absolutely my worst habit 😅)
      Also, to be clear this was not a careless oversight. I realized fairly quickly what I was doing and intentionally continued because I thought it would make a good joke. I'm not sure how much experience you have with this chemical but I have worked with it for years and the formation of metal picrates in the reaction mixture is of absolutely no consequence. It is quite literally incapable of detonation while saturated in water, and is completely removed and destroyed by the recrystallization. It is the formation of picrates during storage that is the big concern, and even still completely dry picric acid is only slightly less shock sensitive than most picrates.

    • @_arthurski1337
      @_arthurski1337 8 місяців тому +5

      Some early chemists added a brass band around the bottom end of their thermometers, so they could be used as stir rods with a reduced risk of breaking.
      Of course, picric acid is likely to react with brass anyways.

    • @r.gilman4261
      @r.gilman4261 8 місяців тому +3

      Green, i'm thinking chrome or nickel as plating to keep it from corroding.

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому +1

      @@r.gilman4261 yeah I'm thinking chromium based on the color of the corrosion on this thing.

    • @PaulSteMarie
      @PaulSteMarie 8 місяців тому +1

      I was going to say, all this talk about the hazards of transition metal picrates and then you stir the reaction mixture with a stainless steel thermometer...

  • @user-dc8em3ou2z
    @user-dc8em3ou2z 6 місяців тому +1

    OK! Now I know you're a pro ! Beautiful!!!

  • @DangerousLab
    @DangerousLab 8 місяців тому +3

    Gonna back this up real quick, I hope YT isn't going to take down another Picric acid video!
    Great video btw! solidly explained and presented.

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому +3

      Tysm! Does picric acid usually get taken down??

    • @DangerousLab
      @DangerousLab 8 місяців тому +2

      @@integral_chemistry Not sure about it now, it was pretty controversial in the past due to its sensitive nature. I know Nilered took it down himself and Chemplayer has it taken down by YT IIRC. Perhaps it also depends on how the procedure is presented.

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому +2

      @@DangerousLab Yeah I'm thinking presentation is the critical factor. Hope I was mature enough about it to avoid that..

    • @DangerousLab
      @DangerousLab 8 місяців тому

      @@integral_chemistry I come across an article on UA-cam "How UA-cam evaluates Educational, Documentary, Scientific, and Artistic (EDSA) content", it explains the potential exemption for this very type of chemical reaction, I think it might be useful for you.

  • @mgritsch
    @mgritsch 8 місяців тому +3

    Reducing agents will usually reduce only one nitro group to amine, resulting in picramate (which AFAIK is just as toxic and almost as explosive as picric acid. A proper disposal is difficult to achieve.

  • @ajcoward1179
    @ajcoward1179 8 місяців тому +2

    Nice video as always! You should be able to add the nitrate without the generation of NOx, which will also improve the yield. The nitrate needs to be finely powdered, well dried and added very slowly while maintaining 110 to 120 C.

  • @r.gilman4261
    @r.gilman4261 8 місяців тому +8

    Forgive me if I am wrong here, but usually big explosive crystals=very bad idea. also ammonium picrate IIRC shouldn't lead to metal pictrate formation or was tin plating used to avoid the metal picrate formation?

    • @kinexkid
      @kinexkid 8 місяців тому +2

      According to literature, ammonium pirate still has a solubility in water at 1.1 g/100ml, compared to picnic acid's 1.3g/100ml. So it probably still disaccociates enough in solution to have the same effect. I'm not a chemist, so I'm just spit balling here

    • @_arthurski1337
      @_arthurski1337 8 місяців тому +5

      Ammonium picrate was used as "Dunnite", "explosive D", or "Shimose powder" by Japan. I consulted Urbanski for the downsides, but he had no negative remarks about it.

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому +2

      Yeah maybe not the best idea.. but they are relatively safe as long as they're kept dry and not made into a salt with ammonia or metal. And as far as I was able to tell in my reading they never really found a way to contain this stuff inside of metal long term (like more than 6 months or so) without significant picrate formation.. not totally sure though I could be wrong

    • @r.gilman4261
      @r.gilman4261 8 місяців тому +2

      @@_arthurski1337 IIRC Shimose was picric acid, and the way the Japanese got away from metal picrates forming was by tin plating the interior of the burster cavity. They then graduated to 2,4,6 trinitroanisole in the mid to late 1930s.
      The reason the U.S. Navy used Ammonium Picrate was that it did not form the metal picrates and was relativly shock insensitve as explosive d was used as a burster for amor piercing shells.

    • @chemistryofquestionablequa6252
      @chemistryofquestionablequa6252 8 місяців тому

      ​@@integral_chemistryif you're using a picric acid based explosive, just lacquer the metal surface it might come in contact with. Plastidip would likely work too.

  • @slimshady8252
    @slimshady8252 8 місяців тому +2

    11:30 you know he forgot when he had to pee😂😂

  • @robmorgan1214
    @robmorgan1214 8 місяців тому +3

    Oh man. Not Yellow chemistry! It's cursed!

  • @lefthandedspanner
    @lefthandedspanner 8 місяців тому +1

    the Low Moor disaster of 1916 was caused by a fire in a picric acid store in a chemical works that hit a gas main; the fire burned for 6 weeks, killed numerous civilians and firefighters, destroyed all the houses in several nearby streets, and has gone down as the worst industrial disaster in the UK's entire history
    it led to a total ban on the use of picric acid to produce TNT, but at the time it was completely overshadowed in the news, because it happened on the same day as the start of the Battle of the Somme
    funnily enough, in 1992 there was another major fire in the same chemical works (which had changed ownership several times since 1916, was owned by Allied Colloids at the time, and is now part of BASF) but that wasn't related to picric acid

    • @MyName-tb9oz
      @MyName-tb9oz 3 місяці тому

      I once worked in a chemical factory that had fires on a pretty regular basis. You wouldn't even believe...
      Once they decided that they were going to use resorcinol. They got sued when one of the guys working there was permanently injured from inhalation.

  • @jbone877
    @jbone877 8 місяців тому +1

    Great video, dude!

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому +1

      Thanks man! If only it produced a less dangerous compound I'd use this reaction as an educational tool for how perfectly it all worked

  • @user-bg8dr6by6m
    @user-bg8dr6by6m 6 місяців тому

    nice vid education is king, I'm very happy to see people learning, chemistry is life.

  • @hraest
    @hraest 4 місяці тому +2

    Sulfate ions may increase the ability of picric acid to get wet, so recrystalization may improve the purity and get the right melting point

    • @hraest
      @hraest 4 місяці тому +1

      Recrystalized ones do dry faster and aren’t get wet easily

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  4 місяці тому

      Huh I'm not sure why I didn't think of that, but that is an excellent point. It did remain a little damper than I expected (which considering I want to keep it wet anyway is fine) but sulfate contamination is probably why

  • @user-dc8em3ou2z
    @user-dc8em3ou2z 6 місяців тому +2

    You can see the difference between this Chemist, and the amateur Chemists with all our dirty glassware, eroded monkey bars and rusted hot plates! Oh and don't forget the occasional ( had to change out the condenser because I didn't properly clean it and whatever I made from whenever is now contaminating the new compound)! 😅😅😅 this guy's lab and equipment is like brand new and so squeaky clean! Wow! It's as if this gentleman actually knows what the hell he's doing and I dare say seems to have really thought out his work before he's even started!😅😅😅 refreshing sir! 👍👍👍

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  6 місяців тому +1

      Thank you so much! 😁 I do try pretty hard to keep everything looking new and clean (it might surprise you to know that much of my glassware is years old).
      Interestingly enough, the reason I try and keep everything so clean is actually a safety thing more than a contamination thing. I got the idea after I read a biography on Marie Curie and how her death led to all these new procedures for keeping lab equipment as clean as possible to reduce visual clutter and make potentially hazardous spills/particulate stand out better (you don't want the uranium nitrate spill blending in with all the other spills lol).
      In any case thank you so much again for the kind words, I'm glad it doesn't go unnoticed

    • @user-dc8em3ou2z
      @user-dc8em3ou2z 5 місяців тому

      @integralchemistry1849 it's no surprise to me that you're glassware is mature! I was so impressed because I thought I was the only one who spends a bit much time cleaning up my glassware. I love how certain show offs will dedicate a whole video on how hard and long they had to clean up after their project, like that's what I really wanted to kill my time watching! As if they want the academy award for best cleanup 🤣! Always a pleasure my friend, I look forward for more of your content!

  • @prestonhanson501
    @prestonhanson501 8 місяців тому +3

    It is impossable to not get this crap on your skin. It always gets you

  • @user-eu7fs3fr4u
    @user-eu7fs3fr4u 7 місяців тому +1

    Beautiful !

  • @odissey2
    @odissey2 7 місяців тому +1

    It was interesting to watch all the chemical transformations. However, starting from phenol precursor, it is just a one step nitration process with >90% yield

    • @NiNinjaII
      @NiNinjaII 4 місяці тому

      Could you clarify yourself please? I am curious

  • @psica182003
    @psica182003 Місяць тому

    Your words are filling the screen

  • @WilliamFord972
    @WilliamFord972 25 днів тому

    I’m pretty sure I’m on a watchlist now.

  • @richardpurves
    @richardpurves Місяць тому

    I worked with someone a few years ago at a university. His previous job was Imperial Cancer Research and he told me the story of how they had to get the building evacuated and the bomb squad in after they found really old metal containers of picric acid. Like multiple kilos of the stuff.
    I will also say (as a fan of a different chem youtuber) than all yellow chemistry is trash ;) (Thanks Tom!)

  • @ChemicalEuphoria
    @ChemicalEuphoria 8 місяців тому +2

    >70% yield for a decarboxylation and a full nitration is a really good yield imo, nice work!

    • @reddragonflyxx657
      @reddragonflyxx657 8 місяців тому +1

      I think weighing damp crystals inflated the yield a bit, but it's a nice demonstration and probably good yield anyway.

  • @ShaLun42
    @ShaLun42 7 місяців тому +1

    You can make chlorpicrine from picric acid. And then phosgene oxime (CX) from chlorpicrine.

  • @user-qc4un4sj2b
    @user-qc4un4sj2b 8 місяців тому +2

    Some how I seem to have missed the part where you explain why you went through this hazardous process in the first place. What are you using it for? Entertaining and informative though.

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому

      Just to entertain and inform lol. I actually have since destroyed the sample, as I really couldn't think of a way to implement it in a future project

  • @CrazyT0sser
    @CrazyT0sser 8 місяців тому +1

    rare case of yellow chemistry not being bad

  • @prestonhanson501
    @prestonhanson501 8 місяців тому +2

    Well done. Nice video

  • @jimplatts6172
    @jimplatts6172 8 місяців тому +1

    That's why the the ladies who made munitions in ww1 had yellow skin that lasted for many months.

  • @BigParadox
    @BigParadox 7 місяців тому +1

    Cool video. Though, we all miss the test explosion part of course. :)

  • @steverichards1103
    @steverichards1103 8 місяців тому +1

    Draftsmen used to use picric acid to stain highlights (yellow) onto maps.

  • @AnthonyAckme321
    @AnthonyAckme321 8 місяців тому +1

    Amusing, clever and informative, exception, being easiest forever yellow is turmeric😳 stains. Some remedies being further staining to hide the original. Your clothes are now tie-dye.🍀

  • @barriehemming1189
    @barriehemming1189 7 місяців тому

    great video

  • @MrVeryCranky
    @MrVeryCranky 8 місяців тому +2

    There is a topical cream called"Butesin Picrate" used for burns, abrasions and scalds. The active ingredient is 1% butamben picrate, It's a strong yellow colour.comes in a metal tube like the old toothpaste tube.
    Is this dangerous if kept for many years ?

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому +3

      I'll have to give that a look but honestly I doubt it. 1% is probably too little to ever even eat through the metal, and they probably stabilized it somehow

  • @davidedwards9157
    @davidedwards9157 8 місяців тому +13

    "Retiring chemistry teacher takes home flask of picric acid (along with a bunch of other 'modern curriculum no longer uses real chemicals to teach chemistry' leftovers), leaves it stored in the garage (more or less safely, but it sloooowly dries out), passes on of old age, and his (or her, but usually his) children call the bomb squad when they get to that part of cleaning out the house" is a standard hazmat/bomb squad training scenario...

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому +5

      oh yes I've read several stories along that exact line. It is quite unfortunate how absolutely perfect this reaction is considering the associated hazards. I'm actually looking right now into anything that works similarly as well in demonstrating successive EAS additions and also grows such lovely crystals..

    • @FUZxxl
      @FUZxxl 8 місяців тому +1

      Had that very scenario in our school. Bomb squad detonated the bottle in the sandbox, while the students watched. Made quite the bang.

  • @henrybarker1159
    @henrybarker1159 8 місяців тому +2

    In the late 1800's it was used as a commercial wool dye some still use it

  • @odissey2
    @odissey2 7 місяців тому

    The picric acid is not easy to ignite, pretty much like TNT. It won't explode if burned or crushed, etc. It would need a real shock wave to detonate

  • @markeasterwood1187
    @markeasterwood1187 8 місяців тому +1

    Not for measuring creatine, picric acid is used to measure creatinine, which is a test for kidney function.

  • @Johnpao215
    @Johnpao215 8 місяців тому +1

    Runaway reactions! Haha.

  • @uxleumas
    @uxleumas 4 місяці тому +1

    Curious, how much did the nitration mixture dissolve the metal on your thermometer?

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  4 місяці тому +1

      Weirdly enough not enough that I noticed any change at all. I definitely wouldn't use a metal thermometer for this in general though just in case.

  • @mgktx65
    @mgktx65 8 місяців тому

    Cool science man keep up good work

  • @nottellin1340
    @nottellin1340 5 місяців тому

    Is this used for against VRE effectively?

  • @aSCrouton
    @aSCrouton 8 місяців тому +2

    what is your main source of literature for projects such as this one?

  • @tsclly2377
    @tsclly2377 8 місяців тому

    The NOx gas can be alleviated by using a flask and piping the gas into a solution of NaOH to get back some of your NaNO3

  • @TrickyDickyP
    @TrickyDickyP 8 місяців тому

    Can you mix the picric with some sort of amine to stabilise it?

  • @FourthMatrix
    @FourthMatrix 7 місяців тому

    I find the staining properties fascinating...

  • @gregkral4467
    @gregkral4467 8 місяців тому +2

    Fun reaction, used to make lots of that stuff. ACH, you are scraping it out with a metal spatula...... NOOOOOO.... hehehe,

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому

      Yeaaah 😅 it wasn't until I watched the footage back that I realized how much I used metal during this process. Don't necessarily recommend lol

  • @Harrison1Bergeron
    @Harrison1Bergeron 8 місяців тому +1

    is this powder the same as vets pack animal wounds or different?

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому +1

      Yep! Although I think the stuff you're thinking of it only like 5% picric acid

  • @davegeorge7094
    @davegeorge7094 8 місяців тому +1

    What a scary big project

  • @douro20
    @douro20 2 місяці тому

    I wonder how hard it is to make the alcohol (2,3,4,6-tetranitrophenol)?

    • @treystcharles3
      @treystcharles3 Місяць тому

      It's not explicitly impossible, but there are a few reasons why it wouldn't be practical. First, the hydroxyl group is a very strong ortho-para director (2,4,6 positions on the ring) so it makes it very difficult to add a nitro group in the meta position (3). also, the nitro groups are considered to be deactivators, meaning that with each additional nitro group, it becomes harder to add to the ring. In short, pretty hard

  • @dr.lexwinter8604
    @dr.lexwinter8604 7 місяців тому +2

    ... now I want an explosive toilet!

  • @alllove1754
    @alllove1754 8 місяців тому +2

    There's a new yellow paint pigment, bismuth vanadate that looks a bit like this. I don't recall the chartreuse water though.

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому

      I've actually had that one on my to-do list for quite a while! I haven't started yet but I put together a promising synthesis procedure

    • @alllove1754
      @alllove1754 8 місяців тому

      @@integral_chemistry the thing that would REALLY be cool would be the rainbow of energetic transitional hydrazides or complexes, IMO. It would be new and watched a lot I imagine. Just be careful like SUPER careful.

  • @xueyufan
    @xueyufan 6 місяців тому +2

    wait, u used a metal spoon to transfer the picric acid?

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  5 місяців тому

      ... yeahhh.. wasn't thinking. Get some tunnel vision sometimes in lab. To be fair it takes a fairly long time for a dangerous quantity to form

  • @lorenwilson8128
    @lorenwilson8128 8 місяців тому

    Trinitrophenol (picric acid) is quite unstable and not used as a commercial explosive. TNT is much more stable and as energetic. Keep the TNP wet to avoid a random detonation from vibration or shock.

    • @Preyhawk81
      @Preyhawk81 8 місяців тому

      That is not true picrid acid has the same impact stbility as RDX. And it was molten and cast into artillery shells. So the inpact of an shot from an gun doesnt detonate it.

    • @lorenwilson8128
      @lorenwilson8128 Місяць тому

      @@Preyhawk81 A lot of researchers disagree with you. Just google picric acid shock sensitivity. If it was used as a military explosive, it had an additive to overcome the shock sensitivity.

  • @DominicNJ73
    @DominicNJ73 8 місяців тому +4

    Hi. It's your FBI handler, I'll be hiding under your bed tonight.

  • @MrTk6969
    @MrTk6969 4 місяці тому

    Can't u use 68%hno3 or rfna/wfna

  • @bromisovalum8417
    @bromisovalum8417 2 місяці тому

    Should you be stirring a hot acidic picric acid mixture with a metal thermometer, dear trained professional?

  • @TechGorilla1987
    @TechGorilla1987 8 місяців тому

    @2:47 - Is that clean product on the filter paper on the left?

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому

      That's the pill binder crap (pretty sure corn starch)

  • @n.b.p.davenport7066
    @n.b.p.davenport7066 8 місяців тому +1

    What can we blow up with it?

  • @user-on6ul5ke8b
    @user-on6ul5ke8b 8 місяців тому +1

    It seems that I was really lucky since I started from salicilic acid and it didn't fume NO2.

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  8 місяців тому +1

      Its probably just a matter of keeping the temperature low I think. My temp got way too high and it started getting crazy lol

  • @ZoonCrypticon
    @ZoonCrypticon 6 місяців тому +1

    I was waiting for explosions of metal picrates....

    • @integral_chemistry
      @integral_chemistry  6 місяців тому +1

      I wanted to demo, but I moved recently and I'm so close to other people I need to find a new spot to test my high-energy compounds