Making Mayer‘s Reagent / Nessler‘s Reagent

In this video we are making a solution of potassium tetraiodomercurate to be used in two follow up videos as Mayer´s reagent (alkaloid test) and Nessler´s reagent (a test for ammonium ions). If you don´t want to miss out on these make sure to subscribe.
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[@kid_missive]

At my current chemist job, there were tons of old reagents in the lab when I started. I have since cleaned everything up long ago. One of the things was a big glass bottle of Nessler’s reagent. It was apparently totally cracked as well, because when I went to pick it up, it just disintegrated in my hand. I was wearing heavy gloves over thin gloves, and it sliced through the heavy pair, spilling all over the bench and floor in the process. That was a long day.

[@TyppiHappo7]

Beautiful, coloured HgI2 and its "disappearance". I once used Nessler's reagent for the detection of ammonia, but I think now it's not used anymore, because of Hg toxicity and disposal.

[@Matteo-tj5yz]

Thank you for another video!

[@bromisovalum8417]

Interesting, I didn't know that the tetraiodomercurate solution was colourless. Nice to see you make the typical alkaloid detection reagents.

[@alacrity7591]

Looking forward to the alkaloid test~. My guess would be atropine, since that's not illegal as far as I know, but I'll wait patiently for the reveal.

[@bromisovalum8417]

Simple caffeine would do for me, or quinine in tonic drinks. But there are some more interesting things I'd like to test. Like a sample of Sceletium tortuosum plant grown outside its native range. There are many options available without having to break any laws.

[@stephenrulz2011]

No plans on making the phenyl acetic acid video available anywhere other than your patreon?

[@THYZOID]

not yet. It will only be released somewhere else once all routes to make phenylacetic acid have been tried out

[@Chemiolis]

Me when I want to die 💀

[@craigpater6278]

This is a little off the topic of Mayer's reagent but it's important. I have three small containers of sodium metal each container has 100 grams of sodium metal lumps in liquid paraffin. All of the storage containers my sodium is stored in are proper plastic chemical storage containers. The plastic screw top lid on one of my containers of sodium metal is damaged. Should I immediately remove the sodium metal from the chemical storage container that has a damaged lid and transfer the sodium metal from the chemical storage container that has a damaged lid to a new suitable storage container for storage or is it okay to leave the sodium metal in the chemical container that has a damaged lid as long as I take care to always keep the sodium metal in that container with a damaged lid submerged in liquid paraffin to stop it from reacting with moisture in the air ?

[@THYZOID]

You should transfer it to an undamaged container or replace the lid with one that isn’t damaged

[@craigpater6278]

@@THYZOID thanks is there any specific type of container that is most suitable for storing sodium metal ? , for example a glass jar with a metal lid or is a plastic jar suitable ?

[@THYZOID]

I would go with a tight sealing HDPE container

[@ZoyaUsmani-bo2ph]

Hello Why Meyer test does not give positive result for presence of alkaloids in tobacco

[@THYZOID]

with pure nicotine solution it was positive for me. maybe your solution contains too little nicotine or you used bad extraction techniques. maybe you didn´t wait for long enough. you typically wait for 5-10 minutes and even a small amount of precipitate is a positive indication.

[@ZoyaUsmani-bo2ph]

@@THYZOID I did not get a positive result for Meyers test but I did got a postive result for dragendroff test what could be the reason behind if I used the same sample extract for both dragendroff and Meyers test Dragendroff gave me positive result while Meyers gave me negative result

[@TheHuntermj]

Yo, any chance of a tutorial on how to make a silica gel supported catalyst?

[@THYZOID]

Probably not

[@TheHuntermj]

@@THYZOID c'mon, make some sodium silicate, add the catalyst and acidify it to precipitate the gel! I want to do some acetylene Chem I found in some stolen German WWII secret documents I found lol

[@bromisovalum8417]

@@TheHuntermj I'd love to see some Reppe chemistry in action, but it is probably well outside the amateur realm

[@craigpater6278]

What is Mayer's reagent or Nessler's reagent ? I have always been fascinated by chemistry but the reagent featured in this video is something that I haven't heard of before

[@craigpater6278]

Scratch that question he explained what they are used for near the end of the video

[@EduardoWalcacer]

I guess we'll soon have some organometallic mercury on KZbin.

[@atrumblood]

Acids and Bases, "We are to be feared!" Organometallic mercury, "How cute."

[@craigpater6278]

This is a little off topic but something I'm curious about, if I was to compare concentrated hydrofluoric acid (for example a 70% hydrofluoric acid solution) to a dilute solution of bromine in water (not pure bromine but rather a dilute solution of bromine in water hence the term bromine water) which of these two chemicals is more dangerous the 70% hydrofluoric acid or is bromine solution more dangerous ? Important disclaimer - I have experience in handling dilute bromine solutions but not concentrated hydrofluoric acid most importantly yes I am well aware of the extremely dangerous nature of concentrated hydrofluoric acid and I do not intend to put my own life or anyone else in danger by attempting to handle hydrofluoric acid I know better than that I only ask this question for educational purposes and I can assure you that I won't go anywhere near concentrated hydrofluoric acid that's why I'm asking an experienced Chemist such as you so I can find the answer to my question while leaving nasty chemicals like concentrated HF to trained professionals

[@THYZOID]

I’d handle hundreds of liters of pure bromine any day over concentrated HF. Answer: the HF is way more dangerous. 70% HF fumes a LOT and if inhaled or if it gets onto your skin it will be worse than bromine. You smell bromine way before it gets dangerous this isn’t the case with HF. When you get HF onto your skin you won’t notice it until it is already too late. Bromine on your skin? It’s very bad but I spilled some pure bromine onto my finger once and immediately rinsed my finger in water followed by thiosulfate solution and it didn’t look damaged in any way.

[@craigpater6278]

@@THYZOID I have worked with a more dilute solution of 10% hydrofluoric acid in my metal work lessons in high school, we used to use the 10% HF acid solution to remove or control rust. Nowadays even a dilute 10% hydrofluoric acid solution would probably be considered too dangerous to handle in high school. But when I used the 10% HF acid it was at least 20 years ago no doubt the safety regulations regarding even dilute HF in South Australian high schools are much tougher than the safety regulations in those days. I had no idea just how dangerous HF is at the time. On the topic of HF, just how dangerous is a 10% hydrofluoric acid solution ? If there's anything I have learnt over the years about things like HF many of which I only read about and won't touch with a one million foot pole let alone a 10 foot pole due to them being so dangerous is just because a 10% hydrofluoric acid solution is more dilute than a 70% solution that doesn't by any means mean that a 10% HF solution isn't dangerous. If I am not mistaken a 10% HF solution can still cause all of the same hydrofluoric acid burns and systemic toxicity as a 70% solution the difference between the two being that compared to a 70% HF solution symptoms of those hydrofluoric acid burns and systemic toxicity will take longer to appear after exposure if a victim is exposed to 10% HF compared to 70% HF.

[@karolus28]

Cool

[@torydavis10]

That was absolute witchcraft.

[@tsirolucecomparison871]

7 mins ago?