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Organic Lab Check-In

Bruce A. HathawaySoutheast Missouri State University

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Welcome to the lab!

• This is the renovated Organic Chemistry lab. It was first occupied in the Fall of 2007. It is a huge improvement over what he had before!

• Our goal is to provide you a safe and efficient working environment.

• We also want to keep the lab looking as nice as possible!

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Lab Features: Student Hoods

• Everyone works in the hoods, 1 or 2 people to a hood.

• Drawers are under the hoods: you will have your own drawer.

• Keys are in locked cabinet: you get the key when you come to lab, and put it back after you lock your drawer up when you are done.

• The middle bottom drawer (X6) under each hood is the common equipment drawer, with clamps, thermowells, hoses, test-tube racks, etc.

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Lab Features: Student Hoods

• There are air flow alarms on the hoods, which are pretty much meaningless. We keep them deactivated most of the time.

• Keep hood sashes down when you are not doing anything in the hood.

• Keep hood areas clean.

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Supply Hoods

• Liquid and toxic chemicals kept there.• Organic waste bottles are kept thereoNon-halogenated, non-water-soluble,

organics: no acetone, no water!oHalogenated organics: no water!

• Be neat! If you spill something, clean it up.

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Student Writing Areas

• Only for your lab notebook and lab book• Put coats, backpacks and other stuff in

the area by the door.• Stools are for this area, not by the hoods.

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Safety: Eyes and Hands

• Everyone wears goggles over your eyes when you are in the lab, period! This includes when you are sitting at the writing areas, taking melting points, washing glassware, etc.

• If you get an irritating chemical into your eyes, use the eye-wash to irrigate your eyes for 10 minutes. If your eyes are still irritated, you will be transported to an emergency room for further treatment.

• Gloves are suggested when handling chemicals and working on reactions.

Safety Equipment

Eye washo Operation – rotate

eyewash over sink and wash foreign substance from eye for 10 minutes.

o Leave it alone otherwise!

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Safety: Fires

Hot plates are the main source of fire hazard in the lab. When heating a flammable solvent on the hot plates, take the following precautions:oThe beaker or flask will be no more than half-full.oWhen adding a flammable solvent, remove the

container from the hot plate, add the solvent, and then return the container to the hot plate.

oTurn the hot plate off as soon as you are finished with it.oKeep flammable materials as far away from the hot

plates as possible.

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Fires

Fire should be an unlikely event, since we have few sources of ignition.o Fire extinguishers: in the unlikely event of a fire, there are

fire extinguishers located in the lab. Fire extinguishers are only used in case of a small fire, such as a trash can. If a large fire were to occur, exit the lab as quickly as possible!

o A fire in a beaker or a flask can be extinguished by covering it with a watch glass or your bound lab notebook.

o If you were to catch on fire, someone should put you under the safety shower and pull the handle. You will be doused with lots of water.

Safety Equipment

• Fire Extinguishero Operation – pull the safety

pin on the handle, squeeze the handle and aim at the bottom of the flame.

o Don’t be too close to the fire with the extinguisher.

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Safety Equipment

Safety Shower o Operation – pull handle

and stand under shower

o Remove affected clothing

o Rinse thoroughly and wash affected areas with soap

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Safety: Water

Water faucets: each hood has two sets, one on each side of the hood.o The one in the back has an aspirator permanently

attached. This is used for suction filtrations.o The green one on the front should have a tan hose

attached to it. It is used as a water source, such as for cooling water for a condenser.

o Try to keep water things away from electrical things (variable transformers, thermowells, hot plates).

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Electrical Things in the Hoods

Variable Transformer • Used to regulate the amount of voltage that a

thermowell receives, which regulates the amount of heat.

• Make sure that the transformer is plugged in to the outlet, plugged into the thermowell, and turned on.

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Electrical Things in the Hoods

Thermowell • Used to heat round-bottomed flask in an apparatus.• Make sure the thermowell is plugged into a

transformer, not into an outlet: why? • A Thermowell is usually supported by an iron ring or

a magnetic stirrer under the flask, and is never placed on the floor of the hood, so that it can be removed without disassembling the apparatus.

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Electrical Things in the Hoods

Magnetic Stirrer

• Used to stir a reaction with a magnetic stirring bar.• The stirrer should be placed as close to the flask

being stirred as possible. • A stirrer can stir through a thermowell.

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Electronic Balances

• Be neat when using these. If you spill something, clean it up.

• Measure amounts of materials into weigh boats or beakers. Don’t try to put solids directly into narrow-necked vessels such as test-tubes or flasks.

• Be considerate of other people using the balances: don’t jostle them or create air currents.

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Electronic Balances

• When you are supposed to measure out a certain mass, for example, 1.0g, don’t spend minutes attempting to get exactly 1.000g. Get close, and record exactly what you have obtained. The instructor will tell you how accurately you need to measure out an amount.

• Occasionally, weigh boats have enough of a static charge that they affect the electronics in a balance. Consult your instructor if a balance doesn’t seem to be working correctly.

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Other Safety Issues

• Broken glass: if you break something, sweep it up with the broom and dustpan in the lab, and put the broken glass in the broken glass container.

• Minor Cuts: if you cut yourself, rinse out the cut, apply pressure to stop the bleeding, and go to the storeroom to get a bandaid.

Broken Glass Container

Glass breakage• Obtain dust pan and

broom and sweep up broken glass and place in container.

• Do not handle broken glass by hand.

• Only glass goes in this, not paper and other trash!

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General Considerations:Pouring liquids

• Measure volumes in a graduated cylinder. Volume markings on beakers and flasks are not very accurate.

• Many bottles of liquids have attached droppers. The droppers are used to dispense a few milliliters.

• If you need more than a few milliliters, remove the dropper and place it on a paper towel (if not an acid), or hold it or place it in a beaker (if an acid), then pour the liquid into the graduated cylinder.

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General Considerations:Pouring liquids

• Replace the bottle cap (and any attached dropper) when you are finished pouring.

• If you spill a liquid, clean it up appropriately. If you don’t know how to clean it up appropriately, ask!

• If you spill a liquid on you, wash it off with lots of water and soap. If you spill lots of a corrosive liquid on you, such as a strong acid, remove the affected clothing and use the safety shower.

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Cleaning Glassware

• If you know what’s in the glassware, it makes it easier to know how to clean it.

• If you obtain a volatile organic solvent in a graduated cylinder, most often you can wave it in the air to evaporate the last traces of solvent. Washing the cylinder with water is ineffective, since many organic solvents are insoluble in water.

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To wash glassware with soap and water, do the following:

• Sprinkle a small amount of detergent in your white plastic tub, and add water until it’s about 1/3 full.

• Immerse small items in the tub, and use a test-tube brush to remove any residue. For larger items, scrub them with the wet, soapy brush.

• Rinse the item with water.• Rinse the wet item with a small amount of acetone.

Acetone removes organic traces, as well as the remaining water.

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Cleaning Glassware

• When you are done, replace the test-tube brush in the plastic bottle (brush side out), and wipe up around the sink.

• The sinks by the rotovaps can be used to clean glassware if the rotovaps are not being used. Disconnect the hose at the quick-disconnect fittings, so you can rinse your glassware.

Clothing• Wear clothing that covers you from the shoulder

to your feet.– No shorts.– Lab coats are available for sale at the storeroom.

• Wear closed-toed shoes.– No sandals or flip flops allowed.– No open-toed shoes.

• You will not be permitted to work in the lab without proper shoes or clothing.

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Other Safety Issues

• No food or drink is permitted in the working part of the lab. They must be stored on the shelves where you put your backpacks.

• No cell phone calls in the lab!• If you have any questions about any safety or

working issue in the lab, ask your instructor or lab assistant. If you discover a problem, or have a suggestion on how to make things work better, please let us know!

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Check-In

• Fill out the information on the top of the white card. Use your student number, not your Social Security Number. Write down your locker number somewhere!

• Be sure you have everything in your drawer that is on the equipment list, and that it is not broken. If you are missing something, it can be replaced today for free. After today, you will have to buy it! Make a list, and take it with the white card to the storeroom.

• Pick up your goggles at the storeroom, and put them in your drawer.