Reagents: Purification and Handling

Abstract

One of the key steps to becoming a successful practitioner of modern organic chemistry is knowing how to handle and store air- and moisture-sensitive reagents, with the certainty that they have not been contaminated. This is a skill which takes some time to acquire and many people unfortunately learn the hard way, after a string of failed reactions. An efficient, successful organic chemist achieves good results rapidly, not by cutting corners, but by rigidly observing strict working practices that allow sensitive reagents to be used with confidence. The biggest waste of research time stems from employing reagents or procedures which you think are ‘OK’. It will usually take far more time to repeat a reaction than it would have taken to re-purify a suspect reagent before starting. Perhaps more important than the time wasted by failed reactions, is the uncertainty which is introduced by using suspect reagents. No matter how carefully the outcome of an experimental reaction is quantified, in terms of yield, stereoselectivity, by-products, etc., the data will be meaningless if there was any uncertainty about the reaction conditions or reagents.