tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9633767.post8093591766259771008..comments2024-03-25T09:11:17.877-07:00Comments on The Curious Wavefunction: How many of you folks are sniffing toluene right now?Wavefunctionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993805391653267639noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9633767.post-82111385288479063792007-12-04T12:02:00.000-08:002007-12-04T12:02:00.000-08:00true. what's the trade off? what would you prefer ...true. what's the trade off? what would you prefer to die of? that's the question.Wavefunctionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14993805391653267639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9633767.post-51259811191123885002007-12-03T14:04:00.000-08:002007-12-03T14:04:00.000-08:00Giving up your time is the same thing as giving up...Giving up your time is the same thing as giving up your life, assuming a finite life. It just depends on when you give up your life and how much of it you give up. There are lots of trade-offs to think about beyond whether one thing gives you cancer or not.<BR/><BR/>Say blatnol gets better data because he used benzene instead of toluene, or has more time for more elaborate syntheses, but he is exposed to more benzene than you are. His risk of getting cancer has gone up, but that was his payment for a more thorough Ph.D. (I assume he is a grad student, but in any case, more thorough work), which can in turn lead to greater prosperity.<BR/><BR/>Same thing goes whenever you get into a car or breathe in any air other than super-purified air. You run a number of risks to your life every day and it is much more useful to think in terms of trade-offs rather than absolutes like that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9633767.post-10243976219525626942007-12-03T12:27:00.000-08:002007-12-03T12:27:00.000-08:00I think I would rather give up my time than my lif...I think I would rather give up my time than my life. In any case, I am not sure if there's lots of cases if benzene or toluene are absolutely required. Seems no escaping from THF though, which rocks for many rxns.Wavefunctionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14993805391653267639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9633767.post-51490251170285022402007-12-02T20:26:00.000-08:002007-12-02T20:26:00.000-08:00Yeah, and THF is carcinogenic now too. Watch me no...Yeah, and THF is carcinogenic now too. Watch me not care.Excimerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04159376908782797242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9633767.post-2699577087119532602007-12-02T12:46:00.000-08:002007-12-02T12:46:00.000-08:00It's a lot cheaper than benzene.It's a lot cheaper than benzene.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9633767.post-65789553303936080162007-12-02T08:23:00.000-08:002007-12-02T08:23:00.000-08:00I don't like the smell of toluene so I don't go ou...I don't like the smell of toluene so I don't go out of my to sniff it. Benzene also gets the thumbs down. Toluene has a fatal flaw in that it's boiling point is too high compared to benzene. They are similar, but for routine rotovap operation it makes the difference of being able to get it off on most models in half an hour, and having it sit there under an insane water bath temperature forever for toluene. The other flaw is four residual NMR peaks as opposed to one for benzene. Coupled with an 'old rotovap insurmountable' boiling point, this makes it a fatal flaw.<BR/><BR/>I'd rather use benzene and not spill it on myself, like all the old chemists did who supposedly now have cancer but are in their 70s and walking around very much alive, then bother with toluene. I have never gotten high off of smelling small quantities of either.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com