Opening a bottle of p-anisidine from Sigma-Aldrich (37 sec)

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File size: 36 MB (MP4 format).
File size: 36 MB (MP4 format).

video_of_matthew_opening_chemical_from_sigma-aldrich.mp4 | |
File Size: | 38110 kb |
File Type: | mp4 |
Loading a sample of flax for thermogravimetric analysis (36 sec)
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demonstrationtga_7_.avi | |
File Size: | 9981 kb |
File Type: | avi |

Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) is a tool used to analyze a sample by measuring mass loss as a function of temperature. A sample of ~2 mg is placed into a platinum crucible (shown in this video). It is subjected to a heating rate of between 5 and 20 °C/min and heated from 20 to 1000 °C. The mass of the sample is measured each second and as the temperature rises it is accurately measured by a thermocouple just below the crucible. Mass loss could be due to evaporation or decomposition, but not combustion as the sample is kept under nitrogen during the heating.

The result is a repeatable pattern of mass loss at each temperature which can tell a lot about each sample. Note here that the furnace was switched from nitrogen to air at 700 C in order to combust away any remaining sample to clean the crucible. Bumps in the curve are due to somebody allowing the lab door to slam shut.
Tip: Don't place Vanadium samples in the TGA as this will bond to the platinum and ruin the crucible.
Tip: Don't place Vanadium samples in the TGA as this will bond to the platinum and ruin the crucible.
Performing dry column vacuum chromatography (1 min, 50 sec)
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matthew_leonard_dvcv_10_oct_2013.mp4 | |
File Size: | 19192 kb |
File Type: | mp4 |
25 g of crude compound mixture has been dry loaded onto 60 g of silica by stirring in DCM. The DCM was carefully removed and the dried silica/compound was evenly spread on top of clean silica. In this video three 100 mL portions of 70% hexanes : 30% EtOAc are poured with the silica under vacuum. Read more in my blog post here.
Video of bulb to bulb distillation using a kugelrohr (17 sec)
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File size: 17 MB (MP4 format).
File size: 17 MB (MP4 format).

matthew_leonard_video_of_kugelrohr__distillation.mp4 | |
File Size: | 18340 kb |
File Type: | mp4 |