Lab techniques/tricks they don't teach in books

[gravenewworld]

What are some tricks you have up your sleeve in the lab that they really don't teach you in any book and that you can only gain through experience in the lab?

-One of my favorites is when you take an impure organic compound, put it in a flask with hexanes, and spin it on a warm water bath without vacuum for 10 minutes, filter it and it comes out insanely pure after filtration. Doesn't always work, but it a nice and fast trick to try to save time instead of doing a column or recrystalization. Heck sometimes a column is difficult and this works better than it.

-Stuck glassware? tap it lightly with something wooden or even more lightly with then end of a pair of metal scissors around the joint and off it comes.



I can probably think of more later. What tricks do you have?

 

[chemisttree]

Add some DMF (a few drops) to your reaction to make acyl chlorides with SOCl2. Its more better gooder with it than without it. Be sure to add the DMF before you add the SOCl2!

You can dry a sample by adding some heptane and rotovaping it to dryness several times.

 

[rollcast]

Never lift a volumetric flash by the neck, we have a lovely purple strain in the middle of the workshop where someone lifted a volumetric flask by the neck and the seam between the bulbous bottom and the thinner neck gave way and dropped a load of dye for aluminium anodized parts.l

 

[SpectraCat]

Never let your grad students drink decaffeinated coffee ... their productivity will drop. Also, avoid having windows and clocks in your research labs.

 

[LudusRex]

I have definitely come across some lab techniques and tricks that were not taught in any book or class. One of my favorite tricks is using a magnetic stir bar to remove air bubbles from a sample. Simply placing a magnetic stir bar in the sample and spinning it at a high speed can effectively remove any trapped air bubbles, allowing for more accurate measurements and avoiding errors in experiments.

Another trick that I have learned through experience is using a small amount of mineral oil on the surface of a water bath to prevent evaporation. This is especially useful when working with volatile compounds that can easily evaporate at higher temperatures. The mineral oil forms a layer on top of the water, acting as a barrier to prevent evaporation and maintaining a stable temperature for the experiment.

I have also found that using a small amount of Vaseline on the inside of a pipette can prevent the sample from sticking to the walls, making it easier to transfer and ensuring more accurate measurements. Additionally, using a small amount of dish soap in a beaker or flask can prevent foaming during mixing, which can be especially useful when working with delicate samples.

When it comes to stuck glassware, I have found that using a small amount of heat can sometimes help loosen the joint. However, if that doesn't work, tapping the joint lightly with a wooden or metal object can also help. I have even used a small dab of WD-40 to loosen stubborn joints in the past.

Overall, these are just a few of the many tricks that I have learned through experience in the lab. Every scientist develops their own set of techniques and tricks that work best for them, and it's always exciting to discover new and innovative ways to improve efficiency and accuracy in experiments.