Making TNT

In this video I discuss and make a small quantity of the notorious compound TNT or trinitrotoluene.
PLEASE READ: I do not recommend anyone but trained professionals attempt this process due to several significant hazards associated with the synthesis of this chemical.
I intentionally made a very small amount, but with compounds that can potentially undergo rapid decomposition, safety is a very fine line.
I find this synthesis to be an excellent educational model (which is the purpose of this video), and considering the full synthesis is already outlined in detail on Wikipedia and Google Patents, felt it reasonable to post this video.
That said, heed all warnings presented in this video, and check for the legality of this process by legal statutes in your local area before ever proceeding with anything shown on this channel.
Join this channel to get access to perks and support my work:
/ @integral_chemistry
A FEW POST-RELEASE NOTES (I was up late editing and made some mistakes):
1. There is a typo at 2:20. Text on screen says 98% HNO3 when it should be H2SO4.
2. 8.46m in reference to the side length of a block of TNT is for a kiloton, not a ton as I said.
3. Toluene is misspelled at 1:46.. Rookie mistake.. if I had known this video was going to do so well I would have spent more than 2 hours in editing..
4. As an attempt to help keep this video up, I may remove comments implying or suggesting this be used to make any weapon. That was obviously not the intent of the video, but if the comment section is flooded with people saying things like that, it invites an element I don't particularly want associated with my channel. Try and keep it legal down there..
5. All the product seen at the end of the video was destroyed, as I have no further use for this chemical and do not recommend anyone keep this around. Not only is it a fire hazard, but even in many places where this is legal to make, there can be separate laws dictating whether it can be stored.
CHAPTERS
____________________
0:00 Intro/Background
2:15 Primary nitration/Mononitrotoluene (MNT)
4:50 Dinitrotoluene (DNT)
6:15 Isolating/Washing Dinitrotoluene
9:30 Final Nitration to Trinitrotoluene (TNT)
11:15 Isolation and Purification of TNT
16:20 Final Yield
16:55 Burn Tests
17:30 Outro/Extra Footage
___________________________________________

[@dhawthorne1634]

Contrary to what AC/DC would have you believe, TNT is not, in fact, dynamite. That is mechanically stabilized Nitroglycerine.

[@integral_chemistry]

Very true, that's actually a correction I've made a few times in the comment section so far. I blame looney tunes

[@Psykoosi92]

Correcting people over this makes them view you a bit different. Easy way to give away you're into explosives.

[@integral_chemistry]

@Psykoosi92 I personally think explosives are the least interesting application in all of chemistry. It's just making a solid form a lot of gas super fast (which typically I'm trying to avoid in lab lol). I more think it's just an interesting historical misconception, but I do see your point for sure.. I do think I'm going to private this video, though, as people seem a little too interested in the explosive element rather than the intended science element.

[@NoobTamer]

@@integral_chemistry I think most of the people are making jokes, though your concern is certainly understandable.

[@integral_chemistry]

@NoobTamer yeah that's kinda what I figure. It's a sort of tough call. I feel if there were other videos posted about this compound I'd just say screw it and leave it up, I'm just worried about the optics looking like I'm trying to show anything nefarious. To me this is no different than making acetic acid or something. It's a chemical and like all chemicals it can be misused. My perspective is not objective though, and this video has gotten FAR more exposure than I expected or intended 😅

[@miliket4tom]

Dear my FBI surveillance officer, I clicked on this video purely because youtube suggested it and it looks interesting. I can't even brew my coffee right, let alone TNT

[@bigbruhmento7731]

right

[@safd-s8l]

Same, I swear.

[@mezame1626]

Lol same i dont even own a beaker or bunsen burner 😅

[@michaelwilliams200]

Who else's next search is going to be nitroglycerin? 😂

[@commieprohibition5429]

FUCK THE FBI, THEY'RE A COMPROMAISED AGENCY THAT HAS SERVED IT'S PURPOSE AND NEEDS TO BE DISMANTLED

[@ahmetyldz5674]

Mr. FBI. I swear, I watched this for educational purposes.

[@jimrobcoyle]

#MeToo 😊

[@prawnstar9213]

I was thinking the same thing

[@MrSergioPalermo]

its not 4u, its for Russians and Iranians

[@knottreel]

Everyone here is on a special list.

[@briancaparoula9607]

I was on the list before I showed up lmfao 🤣 I promise y’all that

[@Pondpixels]

Dear FBI, This was on my FYP. I did not search for it. I'm watching this for educational purposes and because I find it interesting. With love and care, Pond.

[@uberpwner48]

lol

[@AjninHaru]

Hi, Bob here….your FBI handler, sorry it took so long to get back to you, lot’s of these kinds of vids going around….know what I mean? but hey..thanks for the heads up.

[@zyxwvutsrqponmlkh]

Next episode, we make a neutron bomb. It's used in disinfecting planets or procuring colony ships.

[@integral_chemistry]

Stellaris let's play episode

[@Auroral_Anomaly]

@@integral_chemistry💀💀💀💀💀💀

[@TheMuslimMan1337]

​@@integral_chemistryHow to deal with Xenos 101

[@capellovici]

It's a good idea, but we just have to wait until Biden declares war on Putin...

[@williampollock1274]

😂😂😂

[@_arthurski1337]

Generally, it's a *bad* idea to use vacuum filtration with energetic compounds. Fortunately TNT is exceptionally stable.

[@quint3ssent1a]

Yeah, breaking crystals of stuff is also *generally* a bad idea (in energetic compounds crystals breaking is usually what sets off the detonation)

[@integral_chemistry]

Very true^ specifically primaries are VERY dangerous to vacuum filter. Interestingly enough main reason I intentionally vacuum filtered is because I was trying to make a point about just how extremely stable this compound is, in the hopes the video will stay up 😅

[@NinjaChemistChannel]

Why vacuum filtration is bad? I would say so only for some primaries and if you use glass fiter. Just not use glass filters to avoid friction between two glass surfaces. If you have primaries that can detonate on breaking the single crystal thats another story they require different precautions, i would not want to work with such substanses at all.

[@integral_chemistry]

@NinjaChemistChannel yeah you are 100% correct. Vacuum filtration of energetics is one of those "avoid as a rule of thumb" things due to how catastrophically it can go wrong if you are trying to vacuum filter an extremely sensitive primary. However, that rule obviously has several exceptions, and the only chemical I've made that I'd be afraid to vacuum Filter is silver fulminate.

[@NinjaChemistChannel]

Mee too) silver fulmante is scary

[@scottfranco1962]

I'm not a chemist, but you have to admire the sheer range of the chemical sciences. It can make everything from bombs to bottles, and can explain how you work. There was a good vignette from my sister, who was in fact a chemist. Her first year chemistry teacher was going on about careers in chemistry, and said that "many students get started in chemistry because they want to make drugs or bombs". Then he started talking about other things. A hand went up. "yes", the teacher said. "what made YOU want to start chemistry, interest in bombs or drugs?". The teacher replied: "both, of course"...

[@Oberon4278]

The dude who makes bombs and incendiaries in my unit is called "the chemist."

[@robertotamesis1783]

@@Oberon4278 have you ever use matches and it's striker as gunpowder substitute ?

[@robertmccabe8632]

The fundamental point is how? Did they know how to do it; or was there a building with a sign, chemist wanted and a line of disposable "chemist" who participated in the "bomb chemistry roulette".

[@Aliyah_666]

​@@robertotamesis1783I mean you could, I wouldn't advise it. It won't burn anywhere near as completely, it also won't produce a bigger explosion than gunpowder. I've seen it used for kicks to put in ammunition. It fired, didn't cycle the action, and produced a lot of smoke.

[@asureaskie]

​@@acebubbles5023Explosives chemists in the US are more likely to come from regions that say nucular vs. nuclear. The man who makes booms for a living is not a man I want to argue enunciation with.

[@HyperspacePirate]

As a troubled teenager with numerous un-diagnosed mental illnesses, I thoroughly enjoyed this video, Thank You.

[@drTERRRORRR]

Cool. I'm an old fart with similar setup. Let's hang out and swap our lists of our favorite feds :)

[@9bang88]

​@@drTERRRORRR

[@drTERRRORRR]

@@9bang88 "Ey! It wasn't me! It was Ignacio!"

[@trevorchester4439]

Dr terror 😆

[@drTERRRORRR]

@@trevorchester4439 Yuup. It's so fucking lame and old I can't help myself but love it.

[@zegermanscientist2667]

As a chemist, I am amazed time and time again how you learn at university how the methyl group will direct the NO2 groups towards the 2,4,6 positions, but seeing the lab method shows how sophisticated this really is. I cannot imagine the amount of work that went into finding out the natural law behind it, establishing temperatures and reaction times etc. All at a time when no one knew what a bloody benzene ring looked like, or had a clue about the structure of atoms. Later, they would find out that TNT, which has a strongly negative oxygen balance of some -75 %, formed a castable azeotrope with ammonium nitrate, making explosives cheaper without losing explosive power.

[@integral_chemistry]

I personally certainly took for granted just how much work went into figuring out these fundamental principals we so casually learn in university these days. The testing and repeated testing of different related compounds all taking weeks and months each to actually make only to blindly compare them long enough that some useful commonality could be derived. It's actually insane..

[@zegermanscientist2667]

@@integral_chemistry There's data in the noise. Not much, but it's there. And the method to tell one from thd other still deserves the greatest marvel.

[@ATL_Transparency_News]

it blows my mind when i think about how someone just came up with this. i mean from nothing you can do this..... its a big step to be able to manipulate the unseen world is incredible. creation is incredible

[@OtherMike5000]

BOOM!

[@HuahuangJon]

NH4NO3 will catch lots of water.KClO4orNH4ClO4 maybe better:)

[@giostisskylas]

My grandfather was an artillery observer in the Imperial German Army during World War I. He reported that German soldiers in their trenches lit the TNT in the "pots" of their stick grenades and used it to heat up their food rations or drinks in an emergency. This was of course strictly forbidden, but everyone did it anyway. TNT must therefore have an unprecedented stability for an explosive.

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

That was done with c4 in Vietnam and later wars too.

[@integral_chemistry]

Fascinating bit of history, thank you so much for sharing! I had read briefly about that being done with C4 by American GIs as well when I was researching the toxicity of RDX for another vid. Interestingly enough from a modern perspective my concern would be poisoning rather than them blowing themselves up, this crap is far more toxic than it is reactive.

[@quint3ssent1a]

Ahh, good old times when heating food on toxic fume-spewing soot-belching explosive was par for the course

[@AKAtheA]

a big naval artillery shell will happily crash through a combined thickness of more then 2 feet of steel armor and only detonate once the fuse sets it off...similarly a high-capacity shell can literally shatter on armor that's thick enough and fail to detonate if the fuse fails. Anti tank mines without the fuse can be happily crushed by a tank without even igniting. TNT is one of the most stable proper explosives known to man.

[@AKAtheA]

RDX has one saving grace - very poor water solubility (hard to absorb). btw burning the plasticizer in C4 can't be healthy either :D

[@SetTheCurve]

At this point we need to start downloading the videos on this channel, if you ever want to see them again

[@integral_chemistry]

Yeah I made sure to keep backup copies of a few vids in particular 😅

[@rnts08]

If or when YT is cracking down on chemtubers I have a business going. Hope information like this stays available to the masses but also hope that YT shit their pants and starts to remove informative videos like these so I can start an independent service.

[@DC_DC_DC_DC]

@@integral_chemistry Please upload them elsewhere and get them to be found easily by google searches!!!

[@tomarmadiyer2698]

​@@rnts08consider stealthiswiki

[@nunyabisnass1141]

​@@rnts08you mean the business would be selling this info? Or manufacturing? Because I think most of us recognize this is beyond our aptitude level.

[@Rovibronique]

I just discovered your channel and I must say: I really like your professionalism. As a former chemist, I really appreciate that you treat chemistry with respect and not from the point of view of sensationalism.

[@integral_chemistry]

@Rovibronique hey! Sorry I'm just now seeing this but I did want to say that I genuinely appreciate the comment. When I made the channel I figured most science-based content was already sensationalized to the point of satire, which I always found juvenile at best/outright dangerous at the worst. With that I figured there had to be a niche audience of people who actually wanted to see a mature "no frills" option, and now two years later it seems I was on to something! Thanks again for the comment 😁

[@t.dubbya7000]

It's amazing how something so complicated was created in the late 1800s with none of the technology we have today to assist. Great video and really informative!

[@clifforddurbin5168]

Tartaria

[@TylerChamb]

@@clifforddurbin5168 Go sell crazy some place else, we're all stocked up here.

[@RicardoSanchez-es5wl]

@@TylerChambhuh?

[@the_hate_inside1085]

The ingredients are mostly a bunch of acids, that were widely available in the 1800s.They were also used in making a lot of other chemical compounds.

[@Ichangedmynom]

Sweden mentioned!🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪

[@griffin5226]

The TNT lava lamp hits different

[@vilvd3934]

Fr

[@johnjacobjingle8302]

Especially with a cap in it..

[@memberberries9813]

Even though the title says EXACTLY what has been shown to us, I didn't expect a manual how to make TNT this detailed. Makes me wonder why youtube recomended me this video in the middle of the night and if I'm on a watchlist now for going through the whole clip.

[@cyanidepain3452]

😂

[@Jeffindsm]

I assure you you are on a list memberberries9813 🚶🚪🦖

[@delphinazizumbo8674]

EVERYONE is already on the watchlist

[@anotherguy9402]

If anything there's only a "do not watch" list of people who are a waste of time 😂

[@MrBollocks10]

Because it turns out tnt isn't as fun as i thought. I was expecting something that Wylie Coyote have.💥💥

[@esoteric404]

For my finals in the lab portion of my 3rd quarter Ochem required we pick a chemical that had a historical impact and write out the steps it would take to create given normal lab chemicals. We had to write out the whole thing which was well over 1 page, including requisite catalysts and 3-d structure, listing all possible reagents and products as well as as the degree each rxn would favor products. I chose TNT. At the end we had to describe the reason behind our choice. Most unique final I’ve ever had in 8 years of college.

[@LabCoatz_Science]

Great to see a decent video explaining the full synthesis of TNT!

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

Dugan Ashley’s “Dug” channel has a really in depth video on it.

[@integral_chemistry]

Thank you! I am actually surprised there aren't any vids of the process on this platform that don't look like they were filmed in a dungeon

[@integral_chemistry]

I'll have to check that out. Couldn't for the life of me find a vid on this process (but to be fair I didn't actually look THAT hard lol)

[@rodertera]

You should make one for LSD next

[@iCookCrystalMeth]

@@roderterai’d greatly appreciate that

[@MrSunrise-]

8.46m on a side? You slipped a decimal point - it's actually 84.6cm. Which is still a lot.

[@integral_chemistry]

Thanks for catching that, made a correction in the vid description.

[@JegerTradlos]

@@integral_chemistry Your patrons should have caught this!

[@hucklo]

Pew thought I was stupid for a sec.

[@arnsch5505]

Came here for this

[@MeteCanKarahasan]

Isn't it ironic 1 metric ton of TNT releases approximately 1 gigacalorie(1M Kcal) of energy and how Americans won't use the metric system? Calorie is more metric since it heats 1 unit of water 1 Celcius degree unlike the Joule...

[@ByeTech]

Dear F.B.I and A.T.F., I only watched this video because it's very interesting and I know enough about chemistry not to even think about trying this. I'm not a chemist!

[@AayYoWhatUp]

Same here

[@JohnChambers-p5k]

Stop trying to bum off the top comment.

[@AayYoWhatUp]

@@JohnChambers-p5k no

[@johnElden8760]

Didnt the atf get its power removed?

[@centralfbi.]

I will have an eye on you.

[@namensklauer]

1:22 i sure hope there are no explosives, where the destruction increases exponentially with the linear increase in mass. Because that would mean a few tons are enough to literally blow up the entire planet.

[@kraKowD]

*Edward Teller sweats profusely*

[@genericfakename8197]

This man is insane lmao. Not only do you have to be a little nutty to play with that many toxic compounds, the audacity to put the video up with such an accurate title? Outstanding. On "the list" for sure and subscribed.

[@integral_chemistry]

I've never liked misleading titles anyway lol. Thanks for the sub!

[@MrJimmy9800]

If you havent, you should check out the book "Ignition". Early monoprop and storable biprop rocket fuel was terrifying, and also usually full of nitrogen compounds. I mean modern stuff is also insane, but well classified.

[@Enjoymentboy]

Every time I see the acronym TNT I am reminded of a recess debate when I was VERY young. A couple of kids were adamant that it was pronounced "tint" and because it was all capitols no I was needed. One of the kids used Wile E Coyote as proof because they spelled Willie without the I. This debate turned into a fist fight and a couple of the guys getting dragged to the principal's office. Good times. Good times.

[@N0BL3_BL00D]

Imagine being the kid who exploded into a fist fight over TNT

[@guytech7310]

So did the principal explain it to them? That must have been one heck of a conversation in the Principal office: Principle: Let me get this straight, You got into a fist fight over how to pronounce TNT?!?

[@andyghkfilm2287]

@@guytech7310 look, maybe principal types wouldn’t remember, but that was the most important sort of issue that a kid came across. I could see an argument about quicksand coming to blows as well.

[@OffGridInvestor]

​@@andyghkfilm2287don't mention slow sand or it's ON!

[@milesmccollough5507]

@@OffGridInvestor “mandela effect isn’t real” mfs when slow sand

[@yin-fire3263]

I've seen some comments saying the video will be taken down and stuff, but this is educational, and not a tutorial. Regardless, it's the first time I see this channel, and I've got to say I appreciate 15 min + videos about chemistry. Hope to see more long-format videos from you 😊

[@integral_chemistry]

Thank you so much! I feel fairly confident at this point it should stay up, and I do have many more long-form videos to come

[@Gagan1237]

5:34 for anyone wondering why it gets tough to add 2nd nitro after first it because, Now he is adding nitro by process called the electrophilic substitution which use an electrophile species (literally meaning electron loving species) which in this case is NO2+ ion , then after first substitution we obtain a nitrobenzene. Now its observed that when No2 group is connected to the benzene ring it withdraws the electron density of ring towards itself resulting in less electron density than regular toluene due to which when the 2nd NO2+ electrophile comes to substitute its attracted toward regular toluene due to more electron density than MNT hence it substitute to regular one and hence its very unfavorable to obtain a second substitution

[@peterteatree]

I didn’t know it was a dye first but that makes a lot of sense since nitro compounds appear in a lot of the early synthetic dyes, fascinating synthesis, thanks for demonstrating and I’m glad I caught it in time haha

[@ericwolf1782]

I thought picric acid was the explosive yellow dye. Who knew?

[@demandred1957]

Welcome to "The List" everyone seeing this....

[@the_chomper]

if you aint on a list already youre not trying hard enough

[@operationgaming8957]

Lets be honest anybody coming across this video was already on the list

[@1MRSomeguy]

Israel did 9/11

[@dustinmckay4953]

Mr. FBI agent, I'm just a DM doing research for my Dungeons and Dragons game

[@Mrjmaxted0291]

Wouldn't be surprised if you didn't get automatically forwarded to the list simply for studying an organic chemistry unit at uni. It's the only scenario that makes the apparently extremely high success rate of security services to stop bomb threats make sense.

[@VoidHalo]

"This synthesis may be prohibited by local statues." I can't help but imagine 20 foot tall marble statues like Michelangelo's David walking around and busting up peoples' labs if they try to make something prohibited. lol. I know it's a common and innocent mistake that I've made myself at some point, but the mental imagery it evokes is hilarious. Like sentry-golems.

[@integral_chemistry]

LMAO that's amazing 😅 that would certainly discourage crime like nothing else

[@guytech7310]

Meanwhile, US has legalized shoplifting as well as may hard core drugs. Nothing stops anyone from buying diesel & fertializer or mixing them.

[@amarissimus29]

Unfortunately, activists have rendered most areas golem-free, thus depriving communities of their only defense from teenagers discovering that they can nitrate pretty much anything.

[@sinformant]

​@@guytech7310yeah, but buying large quantities of ammonium nitrate in a short period of time will put you on the radar real quick.

[@guytech7310]

@@sinformant Huh? Farmers by it by the ton for fertializer.

[@fulookin6701]

17:10 i can smell the toxic fumes through the screen 😋

[@East_Coast_Toasty_Boy]

Lmao

[@chaos-ivy]

This is like oldschool Nile Red. Huge fan! I'm going to binge every single one of your videos now.

[@alexpotts6520]

Apoptosis videos in ten years be like: "turning nail polish remover into mayonnaise"

[@refindoazhar1507]

​@@alexpotts6520please no, oldschool nile red is best

[@shatunyra]

Nice job! If you didn't burn all the TNT, I suggest you get 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene from the remains: Preparation of TNB by TNT oxidation: To 3600g conc. 360 g of trinitrotoluene were added with stirring of sulfuric acid. Then small Sodium dichromate (540g) was added in portions. When the temperature of the mixture reaches 40°C, the glass is placed into a water bath with cold water. The dichromate is added so that the temperature of the mixture was at the level of 45-55°C. This usually takes from 1 to 2 hours. After the addition is complete, the viscous the mass is stirred for 2 hours at 45-55°C. The mixture is then poured into a container containing 4 kg ice. Insoluble trinitrobenzoic acid is filtered off and washed with cold water. Its yield is 320-340g. The resulting trinitrobenzoic acid is mixed with 2 liters of water at 35°C. And when stirring add a small amount of 15% sodium hydroxide solution drop by drop until the color is clear will become faintly red. When the color disappears, the addition of alkali is resumed. When the color is not will disappear within 5 minutes, several times are added to the mixture. drops of acetic acid until discolored and unreacted trinitrotoluene is filtered off. 70 cubic meters are added to the filtrate. cm glacial acetic acid. The mixture is then heated in a boiling water bath after stopping The mixture is kept for another half hour to release gases, then the mixture is cooled, the precipitated trinitrobenzene and wash it with water. The filtrate is checked for unreacted trinitrobenzoic acid by adding several. drops of sulfuric acid. If crystals fall out - the solution is heated again. The yield of trinitrobenzene is 145-155g (43-46%). Sorry for my English!!!

[@integral_chemistry]

Your English is perfectly fine and thank you so much for this! I did destroy it all for legal reasons, but this could be a very cool future project nonetheless. Thank you so much for the detailed work-up, I've already saved it

[@SierraThunder]

This reminds me of the joke that my great grandfather made of explaining just exactly what my great grandmother's personal measurements meant when explaining a really good recipe for a "Pineapple Supreme Cake" actually were.......

[@PedroFigueiredo-q9x]

Trinitrobenzene is more powerful than TNT. It probably burns without soot. During WWII TNT was made in many sites in Germany, the ground is still polluted today as TNT is hardly biodegradable. Trinitrobenzoic acid (pikric acid corrodes metals) was used in WWI, unexploded traces harmlessly ( I tried it) colour the skin yellow, hence the name. Soldiers also got a yellow skin from a liver disease, my grandfather, who was a captain of infantry, was sent home due to yellow skin .

[@KCM25NJL]

It's this kinda educational material that has the potential to spark academic interest in the growing mind...... very well presented sir.

[@integral_chemistry]

Thank you so much! I doubt most of the people who clicked on this video expected a chemistry lesson, but I'm hoping at least a small fraction of them found it more fascinating than they expected. I'm always sad to hear people describe chemistry and their least favorite class they've ever taken.

[@boarbot7829]

Horrendous mistake at 0:45. You mean 0.846m, not 8.46m. That latter would make tnt only a little denser than air.

[@gaius_enceladus]

Very cool demo! I did a chemistry degree back in the '80s but ended up working in IT. This is a nice reminder of the good times in the labs at uni! One of my favourite labs was making ferrocene - a "sandwich molecule" with two five-carbon rings and an iron atom as the "meat in the sandwich". Quite easy to make.

[@Providence83]

I also had a lab making Ferocene doing my CORE classes for mechanical engineering. Stinky stuff to make from what I remember. The prof was going to use all of the samples my class made to do something else for the organic chem lab. I convinced him to keep half of my yield, since I had done particularly well sythesizing it. I still have that vial on a shelf, next to another one the old man couldn't unserstand why I would want to keep. The other I have written on the vial K2[Cu(ox)2]·2H2O so while the ferocene is a nice flakey bright orange, the copper oxalic thing is a grainy glinty bright blue. Coincidentally, now they remind me of the videogame *Portal 2* if you took the gels and solidified them into crystals, I guess.

[@browntigerus]

Yes, used similar technique to make it when I was 11 and after insane biology teacher explained to me the nitration process. Used red HNO3 + H..4, did no cleaning - but you would not believe the bang from 30-40g. Learned to love and respect the chemistry.

[@medvegyilkos]

and the TNT is one of the weakest explosives :D

[@DangerousLab]

You really dropped the b...Big video! I am backing up your video on this channel right now, not gonna lie!

[@integral_chemistry]

Glad you like it man! It turned out really well I think, honestly aside from a few typos (that I always seem to make) it is probably the video I feel most proud of to date in terms of production quality

[@DangerousLab]

@@integral_chemistry Energetics is the first thing that drew me into chemistry, it is probably why many people are interested in it in the first place. Nitration of toluene is especially interesting as it has multiple stages and different conditions that demonstrate many different aspects of nitration in just a single compound, from azeotropic nitric acid to fuming nitric acid, from cold to hot nitration, I would say it is one of the most comprehensive introductory nitration that one can learn from, also it is one of my favourite!

[@Ifelta]

There is an off-road park in Alabama at a WW2 manufacturing and storage facility. There are dozens of concrete bunkers with huge blast doors still there that you can rent to camp in.

[@nicksantos43]

I feel like I'm going to have Homeland Security at my door just for watching

[@PossumKommander]

I doubt most people have the technical competence to carry this out, but any knucklehead can fill a bottle with gasoline and add an oily rag.

[@OffGridInvestor]

We're getting to those times.

[@OffGridInvestor]

​@@PossumKommanderi was friends with a Yugoslav kid who left with hus parents during the ear or as tensions were rising. AT AGE 13 his father taught him HOW and the various techniques to slow or increase burn rates and the rules for safety on Molotovs. He was explaining it to me at school.

[@PossumKommander]

@OffGridInvestor Good for him, but the fortnite generation has a hard time frying an egg.

[@monad_tcp]

16:19 that's the most dangerous part of the entire process, (because it looks delicious and you can't eat it)

[@spritzerland658]

bro you just need 4 blocks of sand and 5 pieces of gunpowder, that simple

[@integral_chemistry]

good point tbh^^ This is what you do when you can't find enough creepers

[@neirdouille1686]

ahah^^

[@FLASHkor]

Pssssh [:c]=€

[@MuwaUWU]

​@@integral_chemistry just check the offender registry for creepers

[@benjaanimations5219]

​@@MuwaUWUthat ain't ok

[@Alexagrigorieff]

Fun fact. As the table shows, 1 g of TNT yields 4.184 kJ. 1 kcal is coincidentally also equivalent to 4.184 kJ. Thus, yield of 2 kg of TNT is equivalent to the recommended daily caloric intake of 2000 kcal.

[@littlejackalo5326]

Wow. That's crazy. Never thought about that or did the conversion to put it into perspective.

[@janpeirs142]

It's not really a coincidence, but by definition. 1 kiloton of TNT-equivalent is defined as 10e12 calories. 1 kg of real TNT actually yields 1.1 kg TNT-equivalent of explosive energy.

[@danielhebard1865]

So what you're saying is eating TNT can make you fat.

[@Error422win]

You have to eat the explosion to get the energy though, eating the TNT might give you cancer

[@Peter-q5l3f]

I admire people that know how to mix chemicals and not get killed.

[@abriannaaguilera2123]

Goodbye, to my American visa.

[@AayYoWhatUp]

Goodbye

[@beavischrist5]

Go as a refugee via megiko😅

[@abriannaaguilera2123]

@@beavischrist5 What in Sam's name I a Megiko?

[@beavischrist5]

@@abriannaaguilera2123 mexican for mexico. Its a 3e world country.

[@abriannaaguilera2123]

@@beavischrist5 Boy, if you were any denser, they'd use you for radiation shielding.

[@sterlingarcher813]

here before the feds show up at your house.

[@capellovici]

Not at my home lol ! No living in USA....

[@Tommygunn776]

4:20 Forbidden Mountain Dew

[@Kaiju3301]

Lore accurate Mountain Dew

[@Error422win]

What soda haters think Mountain Dew is

[@izhan6666]

just finished my a level chemistry with a lot of organic info in the syllabus, whatever u dipslayed i studied it and i saw this implementation afterwards my a levels are finished, im glad that i am aware of the mechanisms, the trick i learned for benzene was that, if a single bonded group is attached, the positions will be 2,4,6,, but a double bonded will have 3,5 as the placement in benzene

[@DoYouLikeMyNameDude]

This video wont stay up forever.....

[@jaymzx0]

I clicked as soon as I saw it for that reason.

[@y33t23]

Oh a new vi- daaaamn it just accidentaly downloaded to my hard drive, how did that happen again?!

[@demandred1957]

@@y33t23 IKR??? same here..

[@integral_chemistry]

I'm hoping my presentation was academic enough that it stays around a while. I was careful to follow youtube's terms of service to the letter with this one, so fingers crossed!

[@hackdurbrain]

I read this experiment when I was 13 on a book on industrial methods from the 60s.

[@CyclicMac]

Thank you so much, because of this video I can finally proceed with my plans.

[@andrewtreat7371]

Love the video man! Just a quick correction; At 2:23 you stated that it was 98% Sulfuric Acid but your text says 98% Nitric.

[@SafetyLucas]

Toluene is also misspelled at 1:46

[@integral_chemistry]

Yeah I was up late trying to finish editing on this one, made a few more mistakes than usual. You're the first to catch the toluene misspelling though

[@andrewtreat7371]

@@integral_chemistry Hey man don’t sweat it. You’re one of the better chemistry channels that I’ve seen on the platform with actually ORIGINAL content. I love the Nile Reds and Chemdelics but sometimes seeing the same simple organic synthesis reactions gets old. You’re doing a great job. This is the first nitrotoluene vid that I’ve seen other than chemplayer so I’m here for it.

[@integral_chemistry]

@@andrewtreat7371 Thanks man! That means a lot. I will say a lot of my earlier videos were those simple/straightforward reactions you're talking about, but those get even more boring to do than to watch. Trust me. I've got a lot of cool stuff planned, much of which currently doesn't exist on youtube (to my knowledge) So stay tuned!

[@sjb3460]

@@integral_chemistry Keep us posted.

[@JonnyGlock]

At 2:19 you said 100ml of sulfuric acid but wrote 100ml nitric acid. This made it so you listed 100ml 98% nitric acid and 40ml 99% fuming nitric acid. I love your videos, thank you for taking the time to make them!

[@MustafaAl-Hmeri]

ماهو هل اخطى ام كان ذالك صحيحاً

[@Cwra1smith]

Excellent detailed video. That huge oak tree stump is no longer a problem.

[@nomanmcshmoo8640]

An excellent video. Thank you. I actually work with explosives regularly but from the manufacturing end. I've done it in Space and Defense and even in Automotive. Seeing the chemistry behind my tools is very enlightening.

[@gg2324]

Is there any uses for explosives in automotive industries beside maybe airbags and the doors of an sls?

[@nomanmcshmoo8640]

@@gg2324 Those are it as far as I know. I did airbag systems for three decades....almost from the start of the modern airbag systems in the 1990s.

[@seansingh4421]

Even looking at the thumbnail for this video probably landed a lot of dudes on a watchlist

[@jamisontaylor878]

Lol

[@remcovanvliet3018]

If you're not on at least a handful of watch lists, are you even really alive?

[@hlessiavedon]

Have you seen the "potential terrorist checklist"? It's so comprehensive that pretty much every American is on the list lol

[@vegan-cannibal714]

At this point I collect the lists I'm on with pride. Sometimes I don't even watch the videos. It's fun just knowing the three letter crowd is waisting it's time on me

[@kermitthemutantlevitatingfrog]

It is an honor to be on this watch list with you all

[@JustinKoenigSilica]

Saying goodbye to your channel when it gets taken down, was nice knowing you

[@integral_chemistry]

Lol I think it'll be fine. There are a few vids on YT already showing this process, and MANY that show the synth of nitroglycerin which is a far more destructive compound. This one does have a worse reputation though so hopefully it doesn't get taken down out of ignorance.. fingers crossed

[@robmorgan1214]

Yeah...smh. YT is under the control of ignorant computer "scientists" that don't understand this is basically common knowledge and that the kind of people who like watch the world burn lack both the patience to learn how to do this AND the patience necessary to actually do it. Impulse control problems is the hallmark of the clusterB personality. The rare extreme cluster B individual that can plan, historically, prefers in person "face to face" methods. Knowledge is dangerous. You can't understand basic biology and physics, let alone organic synthesis if you can't work this kind of thing out on your own. Censorship is more dangerous than knowledge in the wrong hands... just look at how many ppl YT medical censorship likely ended during the pandemic... and how many ppl are disabled or experienced sudden adult d--th syndrome because of the untested voldemort they helped force on an unsuspecting uninformed population... It's probably well into the 7 figures. Until we return to a world that doesn't want plastics, antibiotics, fossil fuels, rare earth minerals... electricity...and farms... we will be confronted with dangerous knowledge and millions of humans that understand chemistry and physics at the practical level required to manufacture things like this and much worse at industrial scale in facilities that operate 24 hours a day seven days a week. YT censorship is proof that the education system has failed most college graduates with humanities social "science", and soft engineering degrees (like CS). They don't understand how anything works or how they get the things they depend on every day of their sheltered city dwelling lives.

[@guytech7310]

@@integral_chemistry Change it to private off & on periodically to reduce getting hit with a strike. Helps to obfuscate the text\audio. Make it seem like a history, discussing its use in war so the video appears more about history than syna thesis.

[@integral_chemistry]

@guytech7310 hm I'll definitely consider trying that. I was also considering contacting youtube and just saying honestly outright that this is an educational video because I feel it's better to be on the offense than it is waiting for them to take it down and then defending it. Also I feel algorithms are advanced enough now that if they had an issue with it, it would be gone already. I had a video once where I mentioned acetone peroxide and it was flagged before I even posted it.

[@guytech7310]

@@integral_chemistry Or they just have added TeNeT to the list yet, or it hasn't got enough views yet. "Dug" (Duggan Ashley - Yes the same Guy) as a lot of energy compounds maker vidoes, but since his view count is so low its slips below the radar (at least for now). He's got a video with (CH3)2CO - H2O2 & no takedown yet as well as the EeTeN videos, along with small sample decomposions.

[@robertromanul2212]

Finally, something thats gonna *blast* everyone away in chemistry class.

[@zUltra3D]

This'll definitely blow their minds

[@joeyuzwa891]

It’s so cool we can just watch people like this guy, That Chemist and Nile Red for free on here. Living in a new age of science education.

[@R4in46]

Dear fbi agent: I am going to do TNT and I am a threat

[@bobsunkees3392]

Makes me remember road runner cartoons as a kid.

[@MrSunrise-]

Text on screen at 2:20 says 98% HNO3 when it should be H2SO4.

[@integral_chemistry]

Thanks for the catch! I made a correction in the video description.

[@samael335]

"I simply mixed together 98% sulfuric acid and 99% fuming nitric acid", no big deal. It's not like they're super corrosive or toxic or anything dangerous like that..

[@integral_chemistry]

It is a preposterously nasty mixture. Nowhere near the most dangerous thing I've done on this channel, but probably top 10 most toxic

[@nayeem7359]

Thank you for this video. I learnt tnt synthesis today in my organic chemistry class. It's cool to see the process actually in real life and not just memorising bunch of reactions

[@thomasgreen4520]

Always been fascinated with tnt and the idea of making it. That being said, this video did a great job showing me why i never will lol. Great showing 😊

[@BlamThis]

Fascinated with the idea of making it? 🗿

[@namedeleted9005]

Imagine being the person who discovered that the dye you were using for years was actually an explosive

[@alan_clough]

The fact you didnt make this in highschool chemistry is proof that the public schooling system is lame and cringe.

[@georgiibarthe8394]

Thank you for the informative and easy to follow tutorial! Keep up the GOOD work!

[@Exotic_Chem_Lab]

Welcome to the list😂

[@sepehr6547]

😂

[@WingmanSR]

👋

[@adrielburned6924]

Over here in America: we got 50BMG's but no TNT. Over there: no gun or knives, but TNT....OK! 😂

[@guytech7310]

I am pretty sure TNT is banned "over there". in US there is Tannerite, "over there", there is also no Tannerite.

[@adrielburned6924]

@@guytech7310 I know. I was just trying to be funny. Sorry I failed 😔

[@guytech7310]

@@adrielburned6924 /sarc helps

[@GillAndBurtTheCop]

CUZ I'M T.N.T.! I'M DYNAMITE! Fuck I love this song.

[@jgedutis]

It's too bad TNT and dynamite are not the same. Dynamite is nitro glycerine and not TNT.

[@zm7160]

Fun fact, Dynamite is actually a different thing. It's primarily just Nitroglycerin stabilized in Diatomaceous Earth

[@GillAndBurtTheCop]

You know, I feel like I wanna lie and say I knew that, but even though I've heard the chemical formulas for both, I never made the distinction between the two until after you pointed it out.

[@terryboyer1342]

AC/DC sucks

[@GillAndBurtTheCop]

@@terryboyer1342 how so?!

[@Misguidedchild0351]

I trained and used some of the explosives that were listed at @1:23 while serving in the Marine Corps. Thanks for the trip down memory lane…

[@integral_chemistry]

No problem! And that's pretty awesome, part of me wishes I had more formal training with these compounds but at the same time they do scare the hell outta me at weapon-scale

[@SavageSmithy]

why do I feel like Ive just been added to a "list" because I clicked on this video? 😂

[@poler96]

Noone asked. Everybody wanted.

[@neirdouille1686]

caca

[@adriandelgado8709]

Im no chemist, but these videos for me are really interesting and makes me wonder how people found out about this things and how they perfected it from its crudely original iteration

[@justGOLD7]

You should look up the history of Alfred Nobel and how he accidentally discovered nitrocellulose, almost died before he knew what happened.

[@PotooBurd]

I enjoy this so much! Amazing content, best wishes to you and your future projects! 🌻

[@mwbgaming28]

Hi FBI surveillance guy

[@joeblough4605]

Hi, and we like coffee too, just sayin'

[@davidforika8582]

W pfp

[@Sun-Tzu-]

They don't give a shit about the likes of you. You're fine.

[@southaussiegarbo2054]

Hi. Did you bring me my donuts to keep my silence

[@psyraxx39]

In Minecraft fbi

[@iizvullok]

Hello my personal FBI agent, I am just watching this for a friend. Have a nice day!

[@Critter145]

3:40 your mixing vessel is being traversed by radiation and the gas is acting like a cloud chamber.

[@vishalkote1475]

Best part about learning Ochem is going “so that’s how you can make that chemical from this chemical.”

[@robinmud1]

Dude is doing youtube ban speedrun

[@demti2]

Welcome to the watchlist glad you could make it

[@Auroral_Anomaly]

You only need 4 cubic meters of silicon dioxide powder, and 5 batches of sulfur, carbon, and potassium nitrate. This is a minecraft joke if you don’t know.

[@integral_chemistry]

lol my initial idea was to make the thumbnail a minecraft TNT block, but I felt that might be too misleading

[@stickemuppunkitsthefunlovi4733]

​@@integral_chemistry we need a video of you mixing the above ingredients

[@judyfps5059]

The fbi already knows we’re too poor and dumb to even make use of the limited information given here. And if we somehow managed to get a few steps in, Darwin tends to wanna butt in.

[@onemoreguyonline7878]

I came here for the comments. Honestly. I debated clicking the thumbnail for longer than any video on orange site

[@integral_chemistry]

LMAO

[@BenjaminSpencer-m1k]

I was always thinking that the values were actually exponential.

[@kzprogaming2307]

I have my 1st year chemical engineering practicals tommorrow and now i have a very harmless urge to try this out..wish me luck

[@integral_chemistry]

Good luck! (And stay safe). The most dangerous part is attaching that first nitro-group

[@esmolol4091]

I'm sooo happy that this kind of chemistry is so damn complicated, that not every idiot is able to use it to do harm.

[@integral_chemistry]

Same. Tbh that's why I felt okay posting this, the level of technical skill required (and cost of equipment) is so prohibitive its just kinda automatically off-limits to most people by virtue of its own complexity

[@Emigdiosback]

Dear FBI agent. Dunkin or Starbucks?

[@CPTSwoopty]

Tim Hortons lol

[@Emigdiosback]

@@CPTSwoopty this ain’t Canada

[@frankmckenneth9254]

1:50 yellow chemistry spotted

[@centralplains7608]

Absolutely EXCELLENT video‼Of course, having last studied chemistry 60+ years ago, I had not the HELL of one ounce of understanding😵‍💫 But, since your voice sounded SO CALM and persuasive, I'm sure SOMEBODY was able to follow what you were talking about‼ LOL👍🏽

[@Talibanoffical]

Very good tutorial! You earned yourself a subscriber!

[@BiggestNoodle]

AHAHAHAH I JUST GOT THE JOKE

[@kevinhaid6211]

Hello my fellow watchlist friends!

[@robwebster1098]

Wait a second, this video isn't about the history of Turner Network Television? Bamboozled am I! Please take me off the watch list FBI 😂

[@johnshepard-pd9le]

After watching the short : FBI, open the door ! 🤣

[@andrews.4780]

Would there be uses outside of the realm of energetics to synthesize tetrazoles? Tom from Explosions & Fire has a pretty cool video on azides and tetrazoles and the nitration processes during the synthesis would be cool to demonstrate.

[@integral_chemistry]

That certainly wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility, and I'll definitely look into it! I tend to over-prepare for these type of vids so it might take a while, but I do like the idea

[@guytech7310]

​@@integral_chemistry How about a video making Pentaerythritol from scratch formaldehyde & acetaldehyde. You can make formaldehyde from methanol, and acetaldehyde from ethanol. That's not commonly demostrated, I doubt showing the synthesis would cause any issues since it used for plastics, paints, varnishes, stablizers, etc. I bet it would get a lot of views.

[@Flesh_Wizard]

​@@integral_chemistrydo copper nitrotetrazole for the funny

[@badeugenecops4741]

Who else hesitated before clicking on this video?

[@DaNiKzz]

12:05 ah yes... red water... I have some still laying around from when I did this synthesis 3 years ago... Idk what to do with it so its just catching dust...

[@hammerth1421]

Unfun fact: it's toxic and carcinogenic and its management and disposal a major consideration in the commercial manufacturing of TNT.

[@DaNiKzz]

@@hammerth1421 Thanks, I know that. Found that out before making it, so decided to just keep it in a separate bottle, after the rxn, marked with, you wouldn't believe it, "Red water" with a bunch of warning stickers :D

[@jaymzx0]

Can you evaporate it to decrease the amount of bulk you need to store, or does that make it unstable? Also, what the hell do you guys tell the hazmat place when you dispose of some...esoteric or energetic waste products? "Ah, yea, I was just making up some recreational TNT". I have some electroplating stuff to dispose of (copper sulfate, nickel chloride, etc) and I honestly don't know what to tell them or if they would understand at the drop-off place.

[@DaNiKzz]

@@jaymzx0 1) Yea, you could, but that takes time :D 2) that's why I have it laying around for the past few years... 😅I don't like explaining "why", they probably wouldn't accept "for fun, because energetic chemistry is amazing"

[@integral_chemistry]

I feel the nitro groups could probably be reduced to amine groups by dithionite. That's my tentative plan. It would still be quite toxic, but hopefully no longer energetic

[@coin93143]

I sincerely appreciate when videos give the history lessons like this one @7:28

[@daltonsoutherland8836]

Do you use an alkali mixture to break down the red water or something? Just curious 🤔

[@integral_chemistry]

I'm not actually sure. I think a fenton's type reagent could definitely do it, but I feel hydroxide alone might not be enough.

[@littlejackalo5326]

Send it out for disposal.

[@attilagergely6734]

The quantity you are referencing (8.46m side length qube) is not 1000 kg of TNT but 1000000kg (1000 t). (0:45)

[@integral_chemistry]

Yeah definitely my mistake there (tbh surprised that's my only misspeak so far). Thanks for the correction, I'll try and fix that!

[@sheldonloyer3805]

1:40 even science pros say nucular instead of nuclear sometimes!

[@Titan23era]

11:20 the color of the TNT fluid is so frickin cool, I love that shade of green

[@cart4092]

16:45 forbidden ketamine