Purifying OTC Chemicals: Recrystallization

[@catman980h]

I have no idea what you are doing, but I love to see science in action and you seen to be doing a mighty fine job of it!

[@Zro_Daye]

I've found that the best way to stop "crystal creep" is to catch it early and give it a stern warning, such as "Hey, stop creeping yo". If that fails, try a bit of warm solvent in a pipette to send it back to the bottom and resituate your dish so it's more level. You can always try a larger dish or using multiple dishes to keep the level of solvent as low as possible.

[@Ravtank1]

Purifying your product even further at a cost of product yield is using activated carbon...from brita filters, removing soluble impurities. The creeping part is because of excess moisture attached to the side of the dish, the crystals followed this trail. A way to allow slow crystal growth is having your dish warm from either the oven or some other heat source, filtering into a separate container than reheating, then placing in the warm dish. A desiccant bag instead of vacuum filtering is ideal.

[@KJuniorMuzik]

hello I just finished my experiment and I have a crude product, can you give me another method of purifying it without running a colon chromatography? Thanks for your videos

[@alllove1754]

I'm not sure, but I hypothesize that if you were to dip your finger into Vaseline and finger paint that on the inside walls, horizontally, as if you are tracing the circumference on the inside. I don't believe that the crystal solution of your choice can cross that line. I don't think you need much at all, just enough to smear the glass. I might just try it to find out myself

[@7john7heft2]

This is a really good method I could never figure out how to get the crystals this video helps a lot thanks

[@ברציון-מ5ט]

What if i have a 50:50 compound of potassium chloride : sodium chloride? They both have almost the same solubility level in water, So is there a way to purify only the potassium chloride from the solution?

[@mrhomescientist]

Yeah, that's definitely a difficult question. My recommendation: buy a different product that isn't a mixture! Normally my advice would be to convert one into a less soluble form like a carbonate, but sodium and potassium are very similar in just about every compound. Search on the ScienceMadness forum, there's been some discussion about it and I can't recall if anyone ever got anywhere.

[@mrhomescientist]

Anything that can be solidified from a liquid can be recrystallized - even molten metals! Iodine is usually purified by sublimation since it so readily vaporizes, and this leads to extremely high purities. As for testing, that's hard to do without expensive equipment. You could look for specific things, like testing for chloride impurities with AgNO3 (very sensitive), but there's always uncertainty about other compounds that might have snuck in!

[@WillSmith-lr8oi]

A

[@mrhomescientist]

If you invested that much into chemicals, you should really invest just a little more for a magnetic stirrer / hot plate! It's the single most-used piece of equipment in my lab. A successful recrystallization should eliminate any colored impurities, try taking your product and recrystallizing it again and see if that helps. You might also try filtering the solution through activated carbon, that's been known to remove colors and dyes effectively (though I haven't tried this myself).

[@mrhomescientist]

Some reactions require very high purity chemicals to work properly, and sometimes you want the best quality product when you're making your own reagents. It helps to eliminate uncertainty in your experiments if you know for sure that your starting chemicals are pure!

[@nabusaNYC]

You seem like an authentic chemist... I just hope diy amateur chemists don't catch on and start producing opaque, white substances of abuse. As the chemist here certainly knows, this seemingly silly purification by multiple recrystallization is a legitimate, powerful, fundamental process of purification of organic substances is quite indespensible technique. Since you are not aluding to clandestine applications, you deserve a thumbs up, not a report for harmful acts. Call me a snitch, and I'll call you a criminal. Two different worlds-there are genuine chemists and cursed cooks of all types.

[@GuyFawkes911]

1.) Use a round bottom flask. 2.) Use a stopper preferably glass. The Solvent is not supposed to evaporate! Because you increase the consentration and crystallize your impurities! And it stops your problem with the creeping solvent.

[@ChristianGranger1]

what do you do with the solvent?? how do you get it to crystalize?

[@GuyFawkes911]

Christian Granger It depends on the thing you want to recrytallize. For Potassium chloride I would use water. (CRC handbook is a great source get an old one for a couple bucks) You crystallize the KCl because at room temperature there is only a very small amount soluble and at boiling point you can dissolve much more. So you need to dissolve the maximum amount of salt possible at 100°C(boiling point) try to cover it most the time with something where the water drops back in. let it cool slowly to roomtemperature, put it in the fridge. filter of the crystals.

[@HaLo2FrEeEk]

I hate to be "that guy" that responds to a 2-year-old comment with a seemingly know-it-all response, but I just want to clarify some things. With some molecules (sugar, for example) the solubility changes greatly with temperature. With others, like salt (both KCl and NaCl) it really doesn't change that much. For NaCl the solubility at 0° C is about 36 g per 100 ml of water and at 100° C it's about 40 g per 100 ml, a difference of only 4 grams. For KCl it's a little more, 28 g per 100 ml at 0° and 58 g per 100 ml at 100° C. For sugar, it's something like 179 g per 100 ml and 487 g per 100 ml between 0° and 100° C. I had to look this all up when growing crystals with regular salt (NaCl) for a science project with my nephews.

[@Tomonkey4]

If you put a small piece of metal in the center of the evaporation dish, the crystals should use that as a seeding point and grow from that and so less will grow on the sides. Also, if you cover it with something non-permeable around the edge, they may form stalactites but won't grow out of the container. I think. I may try this myself and will let you know what I find.

[@AvinLht-iu5lq]

Saya mau bikin sendiri Bagai mana cara bikinnya serta bahan bahan yg dibutuhkan

[@mrhomescientist]

Mine was actually a birthday present! I believe it was $100. It works pretty good, but takes a little while to ramp up to full heat and only goes up to 100C.I think it's a good value for the price. I actually just got a Thermolyne Nuova II plate off eBay for a decent price, and I think there's a couple for sale there now at good prices. Take a look!

[@tejicamdfk]

What do you use this for

[@uraniumisotope238]

i used this around the edge of an evaporation tray that had ammonium chloride in it, IT WORKS at stopping the creeping.

[@mrhomescientist]

Wow 17 recrystallizations! That's dedication to purity :) In all my videos I use only distilled water, so there's no added impurities to any of my procedures. I'm glad my video was helpful to you!

[@AvinLht-iu5lq]

Apa itu air suling boleh bagi gambar

[@123flaw]

why does my recrystallization result in all the solution turning to crystal without excess solvent to decant? it is hot and has dissolved all the solid powder but when it finishes cooling it is all crystal so where do the impurities go? I must be doing something wrong...

[@buckstarchaser2376]

You end the process while there is still solvent left. The solvent has the impurities in it, so you need to remove it before it dries completely. In some situations, the crystallization is completed do to temperature alone, but with this material, it is too soluble in water and it must be allowed to dry for a while.

[@sulkarnaink7160]

may I ask for a complete video with the ingredients needed and how to make it

[@TheDaken]

you know i have to agree with you on this, i enjoy chemistry purly as a hobby and you have no idea how annoying is it to try and talk to people about what i do in my free time and the look they give me is as if i were up to something illegal :(

[@mrhomescientist]

That's a pretty good idea. It's also been suggested to spread a line of grease along the rim to stop it, both ideas based on the same principle. I'll have to try some out!

[@黄蟮]

I searched for the method of making oxytocin in multiple languages ​​but couldn't find it. If you have made a video about making oxytocin, it will definitely have more than 80 million views! You are the first person on the Internet to make it.

[@mrhomescientist]

@catman980h Thank you very much! If you ever have any questions feel free to ask in the comments.

[@user-sm9qk5xj3i]

What was the white thing in the initial boiling potassium chloride solution. Chlorine?

[@mrhomescientist]

It's a magnetic stir bar, which I used later in the video to automatically stir the solution. Chlorine is a greenish gas.

[@ClownWhisper]

Have you ever cleaned up the sodium bisulfate sold as a pool treatment product? I have a container that I would like to try this with and was hoping to find some tips on that specifically but have found none. I think that its 94% pure and simple recrystallization should work I just wanted to see of there were any special case issues for this chemical.

[@mrhomescientist]

Clown Whisper Not sure, I'd try recrystallization. I actually used that product (Dry Acid) in another video and it worked just fine as-is. It was for my bromine synthesis.

[@ClownWhisper]

I love that bromine video!!! Yeah.... the bisulfate is not falling back out of solution at all. it has gotten a tiny bit viscus as well. My experience says when solutions cook down viscus they dont easily crystallize. Aluminum chloride is a prime example. Another one is zinc chloride. omg i have had one sealed off in a dehydrator for a month! a very cool recrystallization is zinc sulfate!!! Very nice clear long crystals. And I have a rochelle salt crystal that is the size around of a 250 ml beaker and about 3/4 of an inch high. like a stop sign ONE crystal!

[@ClownWhisper]

mrhomescientist I tried this anyway because I have so much it would be no lose. So I did two recrystallizations and noted that the solution was very milky even after most of the crystals fell out. I dumped that off twice and it turned crystal clear and the coolest crystal garden that I have ever seen formed!! YOU HAVE TO DO THIS!!! the crystals are HUGE Long + perfect!! its amazing. It took one night for these to form I will upload an image in a little while and provide a link As much as you appreciate crystals you will love this!

[@minotaur818]

will putting the pure solute on a dessicator produce better crystallization?

[@joeestes8114]

Thats amazing!,just to see the way the crystals collect and grow up away from the bowl!

[@samd535]

How about adderall? Xr or Ir

[@tejicamdfk]

?

[@majumundur1502]

are potassium and sodium boiled?

[@milyan360]

Started from the bottom now were here

[@spankystone3428]

that problem with separating the big crystals from the liquid...get a chamois for a can and use osmosis to suck up the liquid....and BAMO! separated to perfection!!

[@Naamakalasdd]

I can only get salt that contains 70% potassium chloride and 30% natrium chloride. Is there any way to extract potassium chloride by recrystallising it?

[@mrhomescientist]

Recrystallization would work, but it's a tedious process. You'd exploit their different solubility curves - NaCl has basically the same solubility in 0C water as 100C, wheras KCl is somewhat more soluble at 100C. You'd dissolve as much of your mixture as possible in boiling water, then slowly cool to 0C. The crystals that form should be primarily KCl. You'd need to perform several recrystallizations to get good separation (fractional crystallization). For more in-depth research, google "separating NaCl and KCl site:sciencemadness.org"

[@josephseagroves6404]

Add a bigger container to put your recrystallization container in it won't stop creep from happening but will allow you not to loose product in this process !!!

[@mrhomescientist]

@myst32YT Thank you! I should use these as seed crystals to make even bigger ones :) Crystal growing is low maintenance and pretty fun. I really wish I had a Geiger counter, that would be awesome to see!

[@wiljackson5608]

You should make benzebrex extraction into a cystalize form. It would seem interesting

[@x8alexisonfire9x]

Try purifying and then synthesizing sudafed...i hear thats popular nowadays.

[@ChefKrystalKillagram]

They'll give you 30, but you'll be out in 12...Overcrowding in our prison from drug prosecution and all... ; )

[@theshamanshadow]

could one pull this off with potassium iodide or iodine and also what are the percentage of your yield and how does one go about testing the purity of said solvent/solute/product whatever lol but no seriously just wondering thanks for the post all of your videos are very educational

[@Lunas2525]

When you put it into the evaporation dish could you not have heated it back up to di solve the small crystals and the bulk of the product. If not perhaps preheating the dish or filtering into a heated dish. Also a ring of Vaseline around the edge of the dish to form a moisture barrier perhaps that could prevent over creeping.

[@mrhomescientist]

Yep, preheating the dish would have been the easiest solution. Vaseline is also a good idea!

[@MuhdZulhairi-k5e]

​@@mrhomescientistboss bole tunjuk ajar

[@md65000]

Soooo... let's assume you successfully separated out the SiO2 and the mineral oil. How do you KNOW that you really got rid of the Bitartrate, adipic acid, and fumeric acid? How would you verify that? That other stuff had to go somewhere--where did it go?

[@Doritoslayer]

e

[@buckstarchaser2376]

Those would be contained in the assortment of unknowns that is being left behind during the crystallization. The desired stuff crystallizes out, leaving the different stuff out of its crystal lattice. The crystallization ends before all the liquid is gone, and so the contaminants should be left in that waste liquid. The crystals are then rinsed of remaining solution, and should be of increased purity. The larger the crystals are, the more pure they are, as contaminants would disrupt the structure, causing a new crystal or a deformation to occur. So, to answer your question, you verify that the crystals are pure by checking the shape of the crystals with the known shape this substance makes, and the size of the crystal indicates how relatively pure it is. You can then re-dissolve the crystals and repeat the crystallization to increase the purity further. In the context of this video, this is why he was saying that this material should crystallize out as cubes, like table salt, and why he favored the larger crystals over the tiny ones.

[@Guineh76]

Yep, you're right about that. People do get interested when something goes 'Boom' :)

[@Guineh76]

Is it just me, or does potassium chloride taste horrible compared to sodium chloride? I bought some KCl to use as a reagent, and before I added it to my lab, I tasted a few crystals and nearly gagged. People actually use this as an acceptable substitute for salt?

[@porterrockwell9020]

just out of curiousity...why would you need this pure of this chemical?

[@grantnayduk6864]

oh and can you tell me whee you bought your little gas burner with the stand and the wire ceramic gauzz or w.e it is lol i need one of those badly

[@GMCLabs]

the best OTC sorce of KCl is potassium chloride water softener pellets. you can get a 40 lbs bag for 30 bucks. No oil or junk in it. I used no salt before, that oil makes it a pain to use.

[@98JMA]

How'd you arrive at that conclusion?

[@rickjwilliams]

So do discard the salt creep ?

[@mrhomescientist]

Yeah I would, or dissolve it in another batch of water to recrystallize again.

[@rickjwilliams]

@@mrhomescientist I'm learning. So, I'm not sure about correctness. I can go buy KCLO3 or KCLO4. But I wanted to just learn how to do it myself. And then learn how to do recrystallization correctly. I never had chemistry in high school or college. But learning something is always good to do.

[@mrhomescientist]

My hot plate was about $100, look around on eBay or your favorite chemistry supply site and there should be plenty around. I get some of my stuff from United Nuclear, they are a great supplier (but can sometimes be pricy). From US law as I understand it, some chemicals you can only order in small quantities and the suppliers must keep track of how much they sell to each person. I believe KMnO4 is one of those here too. My burner is a butane micro burner, which I got from eBay.

[@dominicsalerno5498]

To get I to not grow up the sides don't hear to boiling and only stir enough to dissolve the less agitation the less it creeps the boiling agitated is way to much try low heat and minimal stiring

[@Guineh76]

@crosshairs007 I am male, so not gender related. Here's an interesting thought: a doctor once prescribed a medicine that threw my electrolyte balance way out, way too much K not enough Na. I was at the point where anything salt was absolutely delicious. Once the medication was stopped, my imbalance went away, and I didn't find myself really wanting salty foods at all. My hypothesis is: The way either NaCl or KCl taste depend on your electrolyte balance.

[@nikola96uf]

When i got nitric acid, a man gave me concetraced sulfuric acid and he washed a funnel with only a little of water(about 50ml), and he gave me nitric acid from same funnel. Does my nitric acid contains a little of sulfuric? Nitric acid was purum but if it contains H2SO4 it's not pure at all. I want to make silver nitrate. Can i use this nitric acid(40%)? AgNO3 will react with H2SO4 to make water insoluble silver sulfate, but it is soluble in HNO3. How much nitric acid can i use with 2,5g Ag?

[@Gta2CubanPete]

I heard from a fellow amateur chemist that plastic containers have less wall growing crystals than glass.

[@grantnayduk6864]

and its great cuz they ship to individuals and i can get anything from them that is not a schedualed precursor under Canadian law... even though I have some KMnO4 and apparently its like schedual 6 or 7 in canada but I can order 100grams of it from a compounding pharmacy no questions asked as well as potassium iodide and all sorts of things which is strange do they allow you to do that in the USA if thats where you live?

[@grantnayduk6864]

@mrhomescientist I was wondering i got my no salt from a health food store it has nothing but KCl and some herbs which when i did my first recrystalization turned it a yellow colour i filtered off all the herbs but its still yellow do you think this will affect the final product if i follow this specific video also my lab is not very sophisticated i dont have a mag/heat plate but i have a lot of glassware and a distallation kit and about 1000 bucks worth of chemicals.

[@tomledge1]

I completely agree! I used to like the idea of becoming a pyrotechnical engineer, but that died off when potassium nitrates, sulfur, and sodium chlorate, ad other various metals were removed from shelves, it is almost impossible to make mini fireworks from scratch within the law, and without being accused of wanting to make bombs

[@AvinLht-iu5lq]

Apa saja bahan yang dibutuhkan untuk bikin

[@peonatre]

@mrhomescientist i currently have a similar setup going and i will let you know whether i get creep or not.

[@zuleymavasquez2084]

What happens if u taste one?

[@governor1977]

Anyone ?? Who knows anything about this ? So what is this "end product" all together here , what you got in crystals here name ??? Thanks

[@mrhomescientist]

As I say in the video, it's potassium chloride. I'm simply dissolving it in water and letting it crystallize to remove the impurities in the store-bought product. The result is much more pure KCl crystals.

[@fegolem]

I think it is important to note: Use distilled water and not tap water.

[@AvinLht-iu5lq]

Apa saja bahan untuk buat sendiri ?

[@lagutren9164]

what are ingridients

[@ryanshriver8384]

you could try an induction heater?

[@mrhomescientist]

@fegolem I did of course, but yes it's a good thing to point out. Tap water introduces more impurities.

[@syaidahsalleh5639]

mrhomescientist ,helo.can you show me full how to.make drug crystal..+6738291030

[@tomledge1]

It would seem that the adhesion between the solution and the glass causes the "creep". Have you considered coating the evaporating dish with a scotch guard type spray? just a guess - I am below amateur level - i'm in secondary school, so if it wont work please say why - It'd be another learning experience. I suppose the silicone may react with some solutes so it may not be ideal

[@brokenskullz]

scratching the bottom of the beaker helps....with hot solution

[@uraniumisotope238]

you could use a hydroscopic oil or jelly like petroleum jelly or even olive oil to stop the crystal creeping effect

[@peonatre]

when he filtered the small crystals off the solution some water, containing KCl, adhered to the glass. this is what i have found to cause "creep" most often.

[@Malaachi]

Ive done this process with stump remover to gain pure KNO3...hasnt failed me yet.

[@crosshairs007]

I know nothing about the taste since i haven't tried any myself, but could it be gender related? it depends on if mraiford is a woman or not... i assume that the name is MR.rainford but i am not sure- so i decided to post this as a possibility.

[@mrhomescientist]

Very true!

[@krisztianszirtes5414]

so I'm not the only one who ask for these as a present :D

[@incum12]

(just thinking outloud here): Maybe try a "ring" on the inside made of vaseline to stop the crystals going up the sides? Love your video's btw :)

[@annomhd2780]

What is that?

[@mrhomescientist]

I wouldn't recommend it. While multiple recrystallizations will lead to very high purity, it is a rule of mine that anything made in the lab is for lab use only. I just can't guarantee safety without the proper analysis equipment.

[@Kalamando]

@mrhomescientist What is OCT?

[@tejicamdfk]

Over the counter medicines, without a perscription

[@Abcufcmma]

I'm just curious but it's this how they crystallize meth

[@justinfunderburk4733]

Na

[@crosshairs007]

@mraiford yeah, i have seen this happen- its actually a medical fact- you crave what you are not getting enough of... for example, one time i was apparently not getting enough potassium, so when i saw a bunch of bananas, i couldn't control myself- i ate like 7 :)

[@mrhomescientist]

@peonatre That's a definite possibility, thanks for the tip!

[@AvinLht-iu5lq]

Apa nama bahan bikin kristal ?

[@dominicsalerno5498]

Fyi this does not work with meth for some reason but works great with msm

[@shaggy6431]

Thank God I checked the comments

[@mrhomescientist]

@Gta2CubanPete That's interesting, I'll have to try that and see what happens! Thanks for the tip.

[@swaroopkunapuli7805]

make a playlist

[@evaaulia333]

👁️Freddy pratama nagayoshi🔍

[@AntiMatter24]

things like NaCl and KCl dissovle water are terrible to demonstrate a recrystallization. their solubility in the solvent (water) is way too high

[@agnanjuanprastyo7611]

Bahan cara membuat itu apa aja bang

[@homealchemy]

Great job!

[@pouyakarami1769]

سلام شیشه چه جور درست میشه!!!!

[@_satyaindra]

Please help me 🙏 I'm confused in the distillation method, Exactly when taking pure substances I deliberately used a sample of medicine that had 5 ingredients in it, after I finished extracting it, then I filtered it and got the residue & filtrate. But I'm confused about how to separate the purity of these substances using the Distillation method, even though I have recorded the boiling points of the 5 substances, here are the boiling points: Substance A > Boiling point: 400 °C Substance B > Boiling point: 260°C Substance C > Boiling Point: 379 °C Substance D > Boiling point: 520 °C Substance E > Boiling point: 232 °C For example, if I want to get the purity of substance B, how do I do it ?? 🤔🤔🤔 Who knows, someone might be able to tell, 🙏

[@suciawati1996]

Klo jadi tester mas . Salam kenal dr ntb

[@ClownWhisper]

Also this is odd. the natural morphology of Potassium Chloride is a thin long needle like crystal not a grain like that.

[@mrhomescientist]

Clown Whisper You sure? It should have the same crystal habit as sodium chloride, a cube. You might be thinking of potassium nitrate.

[@ClownWhisper]

I just now did 3 recrystallizations of potassium chloride and they are indeed long thing needles. I looked up the morphology and that is their structure. they can get quite long.

[@ClownWhisper]

and its the same stuff that I just made 300 grams of potassium perchlorate (just stuck it in a dehydrator not 5 minutes ago)

[@ClownWhisper]

It does come out cubed at first but its still fairly contaminated at that point.

[@mrhomescientist]

Clown Whisper What is your source for that? Every reference I've seen says KCl crystals are cubic, plus my recrystallization of them was cubic. Are you sure what you have is KCl, not potassium chlorate perhaps?

[@octapotamus]

@Ralphgtx280 haha well it was only a matter of time before someone asked. I was partially joking :P

[@joshntn37111]

You should put it in a sandwich bag and tie it off then get pulled over by police and set it on your dashboard and see what they say or what they do..lol

[@TheJtbmetaldesigns]

Seriously!? That would be an expensive and time consuming practical joke. You would be guilty until results came back from drug lab. Even then you still would be charged with abusing law enforcement resources.

[@adamwaskiewicz7378]

+TheJtbmetaldesigns yes counterfeiting controlled substances is a legit crime

[@DoubleM55]

It's ALIVE!!!!!!! ;)

[@serayamichael1499]

Is this meth crystal.?

[@miraclo3]

@Kalamando O-over. T-the. C-counter

[@stevensoldano5466]

I love science and chemistry !!!

[@kalisnesh1368]

hi

[@SheIIdon]

if meth is soluble, they could probably use this technique to increase to purity of the meth im guessing

[@Ralphgtx280]

@octapotamus this is not makeamethlab(dot)com

[@mrhomescientist]

Good idea, but you mean hydrophobic!

[@robertopellegrino1990]

why the fuck there's silicon dioxide in table salt?!?!?

[@mrhomescientist]

Probably as an anti-caking agent. Funny to think you're eating sand, eh?

[@robertopellegrino1990]

it's strange to think that table salt can be made also vith sand.... very strange

[@rennie8002]

Put it in a beaker

[@atinsupriatin9762]

Help languange indonesia

[@grantnayduk6864]

maybe in the USA not where i live GO CANADA!

[@Boredclub2ndgen]

And its "hygroscopic"

[@RasidiBodi]

😊