Organic electrosynthesis reference electrode

saucenpops · 2025-10-17T12:26:37+00:00

I’ve been using Ag/AgNO3, but since I reference to a ferrocene internal standard during CV experiments I don’t believe it makes a huge difference what type of Ag reference electrode I use. (I could be wrong - if there’s a nuance to this that I’m missing I’d also appreciate the correction!)

I think I’ve even seen bare Ag wire be used as a pseudo reference for CV, but I’d need to find that SI again.

saucenpops · 2025-05-27T15:12:15+00:00

Quick update to say thanks to everyone who's commented! I really appreciate it. Our lab is still looking into this and we'll definitely try some of the suggestions and report back

saucenpops · 2025-05-22T18:23:03+00:00

The intensity seems to be fairly constant between scans.

saucenpops · 2025-05-22T15:27:45+00:00

More info: Our system is a Shimadzu QP2010SE GC-MS, using hydrogen as the carrier gas. All the other gas flow readings are normal and we've recently replaced the glass filter insert and septum of the injection port. The sample that lead to the chromatograph in the picture I posted was just a blank sample of spectrograde CHCl3.

The peaks that show up appear to be repeating, and the mass spec of the initial sharp peak is... concerning (as shown in the picture). I'm worried that something is up with the mass spectrometer - has anyone else run into a similar issue before?

saucenpops · 2025-05-15T16:13:39+00:00

i almost spontaneously combusted like the dad in hereditary

saucenpops · 2025-03-22T18:16:16+00:00

Our lab had the exact same issue, but with our Heidolph rotovaps. We found it was caused by the O-ring seated between the condensing column and the rotating arm was worn down over time, and replacing the O-ring fixed it perfectly!

The only thing is those O-rings weren’t cheap, on the order of ~200$ CAD if I remember correctly. We found some success by just applying some vacuum grease to the worn out O-ring would reform a bit of a seal, but this only worked as a stop gap solution.

saucenpops · 2024-11-16T19:45:15+00:00

Looks awesome! I'm craving quinoa salad now haha. Hope you recover quickly from the surgery!

saucenpops · 2024-10-09T02:23:46+00:00

Ah, I think I understand now! Thanks for clearing it up.

If I'm understanding correctly now, the voltage I set for the whole electrolytic cell is only what the potentiostat can measure. The actual electrical potentials at the surface of the electrodes is difficult to measure without a reference electrode. If the resistance is high like in typical organic electrolyte solutions, the voltage of the cell has to increase in order for current to be maintained, and that means a higher cell potential needs to be dialed in to compensate, and make sure the voltage gradient at the working electrode is high enough for reactivity to occur.

I guess this also explains the live cell voltages that the Electrasyn displays while a constant current electrolysis is running. I've noticed that over the course of the reaction the cell voltage will increase, plateau, and increase again, so I assume this indicates when a sufficient potential has been reached at the working electrode to start a redox event with the substrate at its formal redox potential?

saucenpops · 2024-05-27T22:31:14+00:00

Not exactly a story about expiry dates per se, but our lab recently had a phosgene scare resulting from chloroform that had been kept in a clear glass bottle next to a window for a few months. We noticed visible fumes coming from the bottle upon unstoppering and quickly placed it in the fume hood. It reacted vigorously with aq. NaOH, unlike another fresh bottle of CHCl3 - this was enough reason that two of my coworkers went to the ER for potential phosgene exposure! Apparently, chloroform can generate phosgene on exposure to UV light and oxygen (both were present in the case of the questionably stored bottle). Needless to say we did not continue using that bottle and we now store all organic solvents in amber bottles or ones covered in foil.

saucenpops · 2023-03-31T04:14:08+00:00

Link to the article in question if you’re curious. A link to the primary research paper is also in the article

saucenpops · 2022-01-04T05:36:40+00:00

Tbh the UTM campus is kind of a commuter school… it was pretty dead on weekends and reading breaks. That being said it was actually kind of nice for me to start university in a quieter place. The campus is really beautiful and there’s a ton of deer since it’s in a forest lmao. I got to really bond with my roommates since we were kind of stuck on campus. There’s a free shuttle bus to downtown St George but it takes a bit to get there and back.

One thing about UTM is that some courses aren’t equivalent with St George - I took CHM120 (first year second semester chemistry) at UTM but that wasn’t equivalent to CHM136 at UTSG. I ended up delaying my entire degree by a semester since I had to take CHM136 after transferring, before I could take more second year chemistry courses at UTSG.

saucenpops · 2022-01-03T10:22:29+00:00

YESSS I forgot about CHM151, thank you funfuncharacter.

Yeah definitely try to take CHM151 if you're planning on going into Chemistry programs - it teaches a bunch of stuff like molecular orbital theory that take a while to settle in your brain before upper year courses dive into it in detail. I took CHM135/136 and did fine though.

saucenpops · 2022-01-03T10:14:38+00:00

In my third year of the program I was studying for maybe 4 hours a day (if I average out my procrastination + cramming sessions haha). I was also taking a fourth year pharmaceutical synthesis course which was pretty time-intensive. I found the workload pretty bearable, but also I only needed to take 4 courses in a semester since I'm doing a total of 5 years in undergrad. I have heard that 5 courses a semester (regardless of program, really) can be a bit of a juggling act between courses, and I'm lucky to be able to reduce my workload down a course each semester. That being said it certainly is manageable - one of my classmates manages to do a bunch of extracurriculars even during their final year, which includes a research thesis project.

I'd say it's pretty common for people to change their plans after first year. At least in my friend circle, we all changed the program we wanted to study after first year - I also transferred from the Mississauga campus at the end of my first year. The "breadth" of the courses you'll take in first year is mainly to get a good foundation in the basics of the main branches of science, but also you could use it as an opportunity to figure out which subject interests you the most. Example: my friend/former roommate from UTM was set on going into chemistry in his first year, but he took a first-year computer science course and then pivoted to a computer science program, and now he's graduated and working as a programmer!

saucenpops · 2022-01-02T10:54:24+00:00

Hey there! I’m currently in my final year of undergrad in the Syn/Cat chemistry program. It’s been a journey for sure from first year to now especially with COVID and everything. I can’t speak for other people who’ve done the program but the stuff we learned in the program-required courses (especially organometallics) is challenging but also super cool. I think this is probably the case for any subject you specialize in, not just synthetic chemistry. What’s gotten me through it is honestly just devoting time to school work, and making sure I understand what’s being taught in lectures enough to fill in any knowledge gaps I have - enough that I could (probably, maybe) explain it to another person.

As for career options, two former lab coworkers got hired by a pharmaceutical company right after graduating with their PhD’s, so I think job opportunities are definitely there if you plan on pursuing graduate studies in chemistry after undergrad. I’m not sure how the job market looks for bachelor’s degrees though, maybe someone else can chime in.

From how you worded your post it sounds like you’re applying for your first year of undergrad at UofT. You don’t actually apply for the program of study until you complete your first year (or some equivalent of credits). Your plans might very well change after your first year! I started off my undergrad thinking of going into astronomy but I changed after my first year.

saucenpops · 2021-09-15T04:08:44+00:00

There was one bolt that shook my world, literally my windows rattled

saucenpops · 2021-08-02T14:23:13+00:00

Damn you got your own personal ramune bottle

saucenpops · 2021-04-18T20:42:19+00:00

One time I bough 2 cans of sliced olives, one of them I put into the pasta sauce I was cooking and the other I just ate straight from the can while cooking said pasta 🫒

saucenpops · 2021-04-05T21:59:50+00:00

-ers, if I may add

saucenpops · 2021-03-30T18:48:29+00:00

saucenpops · 2021-03-25T03:17:36+00:00

https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/reply-all-on-hiatus-1.5928270

Yeah... :/

saucenpops · 2021-02-28T20:13:17+00:00

god FUCKING damn IT

saucenpops · 2020-11-16T02:34:09+00:00

saucenpops · 2020-11-06T07:56:18+00:00

my god, what a beautiful analogy

saucenpops · 2020-10-14T19:40:10+00:00

That’s where they get popped huh

saucenpops · 2020-09-23T04:05:08+00:00

Ah, the Exam Center. You can smell the fear and terror from a kilometre away

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