Will This Revolutionize Chemistry? (Organic Electrochemistry)

Check out the IKA Electrasyn 2.0 via: www.ika.com/en #electrasyn (sponsored)
In this video I am showing a typical procedure for how to conduct synthetic organic electrochemistry, using the Electrasyn. It shows that it is a lot easier, safer and more convenient than regular organic chemistry where dangerous and more expensive reagents are required. It is also more atom-economic and reduces the amount of steps.
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This video was sponsored by IKA. It contains a product placement for the Electrasyn 2.0. The Electrasyn 2.0, electrodes and reagents were provided by IKA. IKA had no role in the production of this video nor influenced what I said.

[@Chemiolis]

I finished this video several weeks ago already, but I had to wait before I could publish it, so this is not the only thing I have been working on since my last video! Expect more (hopefully) soon.

[@mereveil01]

Benzen from acetic acid

[@sorooshsaghebi9465]

You are constantly raising the roof in YT chemistry community… mad respect

[@Amateur.Chemistry]

Bro literally combined the two worst types of chemistry in existence and got an actual, measurable yield which is really impressive

[@ommhatre3645]

He brooo where is your biodiesel video. Can you make it using coconut oil? I think the biodiesel will be great because coconut oil has many short chain fatty acids which might give a biodiesel with lower flash point and lesser viscosity 😉😙

[@williamackerson_chemist]

​@ommhatre3645 his goal was the glycerine. The 'biodiesel' was more of a byproduct... it would be cool to make a video on different oils and their corresponding biodiesels with different esters to test as well. You could even test them in an engine and record the different parameters... maybe I'll do it. I've always wanted to start recording all of the cool chem I do...

[@zachingram04]

How dare you, lol

[@thetaintpainter5443]

Organic chemistry is the best type of chemistry, fym

[@cdgonepotatoes4219]

Still kinda yellow

[@eaeis9879]

I once asked a professor who is specialised in organic electrochemistry why they don’t use the Elektrasyn. He told me that it is a nightmare to work with because the magnetic stirrer tends to break the electrodes. I forgot the other points but people like to jump on trains when it comes to high impact research

[@chemdelic]

Always improving brother! Good video! Also this is black magic

[@spiderdude2099]

This kind of chemistry is incredibly exciting. Can’t wait to see how it evolves and grows

[@williambouthillier8611]

Man, I absolutely love these creative synthesis videos. While I do think you a have a lot of talent as an experimental chemist, what I appreciate the mosts out of your content is your apparent theoretical knowledge and the way you share it with the public. As a new PhD student in org chem, it's amazing to finally have youtubers such as you and Chemdelic doing not only the experimental work on video but also showcasing the theoretical aspects of planning a synthesis, figuring out reaction mechanisms and ultimately pushing the boundries of science. I couldn't enjoy it more, keep up the good work❤

[@ejkozan]

Electrasyn!

[@Sicknerp]

thank you for your contributions to the community!!

[@layneheater2053]

Okay but that three d print lab stand is everything ring stands want to be I mean I'm doing chemistry like a caveman with my awkward rust ridden clamps and your clamps adjust this video has unironically reshaped my view of what the future of chemistry is.

[@q163.]

That remaining grain of hydroxypthalimide, so finely contrasted with the black plate of the heater, has ignited in me a level of anxious frustration that I believe is only experienced by OCD sufferers. Thank you for diagnosing me. XD

[@MrApokalipse666]

Great column chromatography you will rarely find someone on youtube who does it the right way!

[@CatboyChemicalSociety]

needs more amps for atleast 100g of product to be made after some time. They gotta make it bigger and use larger electrodes and atleast 10-15 amps of current available for the particular electrosynth.

[@denisiurek]

omg electrasyn, i wish to play with it one day :00

[@denisiurek]

Update: got to play with it. It’s shit

[@Moist_yet_Crispy]

Great video! I'd love to see more electro organic synthesis!

[@hedgehog3180]

I think I'm good at chemistry but I had no chance of following this but I still found it interesting anyways for the bits I did understand.

[@Critical-Smoke]

can you do this with an aryl dihalide? or can you use formic acid in situ as the carboxylic acid?

[@procactus9109]

I'm surprised its not more common considering chemistry is all about the electrons.

[@NautsuJJR]

well normally electrochemistry is just wayyy too sledgehammer for its own good, because, like you said, it can do basically any and all of the chemistry unless everything is kept under super controlled conditions

[@procactus9109]

@@NautsuJJR I'm not quite sure what you mean that.. Do you mean it's hard to control side or unwanted reactions ?

[@anttikangasvieri1361]

Yey electrochemistry ty

[@bdnugget]

It's a bit spooky to me to put a clamp on your air hose when doing flash. I prefer just pressing it on by hand and it plopping off if the pressure ever gets too high (sometimes product starts crystallizing in the column suddenly when it becomes "too pure", clogging it) rather than having the column itself potentially blowing up.

[@bad_spider]

as a simple mechanical engineer my head is destroyed by this content, very nice:)

[@viorp5267]

Cool, I love drugs 0:54 I can replace expensive catalysts by instead just hooking a car battery to it??? Wtf I love electric organic chemistry now

[@rentaros6475]

16:24 which paper did you use to establish that mechanism?

[@cvspvr]

where did you get the perforated funnel at 8:00 from?

[@slyfoxchemistry]

Amazing job well done how are you it was super amazing

[@harrygreb4563]

Would be interested on any work on Organic Electrochemistry and 5Meo-dmt or what is often known to be far more complicated, A psilocybin synth.

[@jafinch78]

Amazing trying to inspire the way to utilize microwave assisted synthetic chemistry. Thinking you can detail more regarding as I still feel, just like electrolysis and other RF assisted reactions, there are many areas of opportunity for the devices and the methods.

[@jafinch78]

Figure the range of analog and digital methods expansion opportunities if wasn't clear. I assumed at a younger age that the spectroscopic methods must correlate somehow to more selective reaction areas of opportunities. So from DC to daylight and ionizing methods as well.

[@jafinch78]

Excellent work FYI! Thanks for sharing!

[@1.4142]

That's a cool way to make another jar of white powder

[@ravidodeman8904]

Looking to buy the system youve got for mounting glasswear, you said better basics but sadly i cant find them? anyone got a link to the website?

[@Chemiolis]

here better-basics-laborbedarf.de/en/smartrack-laboratory-organisation-system-order-efficiency-occupational-health-and-safety

[@alexatascher7500]

I DO SYNTHETIC ECHEM AT MY LAB OMG THIS VIDEO IS FOR ME

[@commradhugger5538]

Ive nev heared of someone preparing their colum that way

[@alkeryn1700]

at 19:40 i'm getting stressed out by the flask slowly falling down lol.

[@christopherleubner6633]

Try doing the same reaction but using microwave energy. ❤

[@adonaiblackwood]

Bio-Field & Electric Universe vibes

[@Tridenux]

No discord server ?

[@MrBoho7]

Very cool. My dumb american brain likes to be tingled by cool chemistry as i try to remember highschool.

[@Rene-uz3eb]

99.1% ?

[@Der_Arathok]

You know tight shit is starting to happen, when the chemicals become inpronounciable...

[@TheUnknownDungeon]

I understood some of these words

[@bitterlemonboy]

I'm not paying 4000 euros for an electrochemistry machine. No thanks. All you need for electrochemistry is a power supply, some cables, and some rods.

[@bromisovalum8417]

and a flowerpot as diaphragm ;^)

[@wissen5410]

Hamon electrocamical over Drive

[@christiannorf1680]

Yay NMP. The cancer juice of battery chemistry

[@Fritz-qr9oz]

Seems like KZbin didn’t like the title😂

[@Chad-Giga.]

I make colloidal silver so I guess I'm an electro chemist

[@Martin-zd8eb]

The most important Question....can it produce LSD?😂

[@chessgaming9942]

>organochem (2nd worst chem doctrine) >electrochem (3rd worst chem doctrine) >fucking combines them

[@Alex-ee5pl]

The big dilemma with organic electrochemistry is the up front sunk cost versus how badly the typically slow procedures bottleneck a process line

[@foolwise4703]

The final comment of "that was so easy" makes me glad not to be a synthetic chemist.

[@Atomic_Chemist]

Organic chem hurts my brain

[@6alecapristrudel]

Yaay electrochem! That electrasyn thing looks very gimmicky tho. And the prices, ohmygodwhat! I'll stick with my regular-ass power supply and DMM thankyouverymuch...

[@captainchicky3744]

wow, that is a complicated reaction scheme lol

[@rezzer7918]

Talks too damn fast

[@XPosingMallucontentoliTubers]

i can't see channel's list

[@ottowalter2519]

I am so happy to see a video regarding my field of research! Just to make it clear the Electrasyn is not the best set up to start synth. electro organic synthesis. There is a lot of literature regarding galvanostatic reactions from other groups only using a lab power supply and simple electrodes. I would be super happy to see more of electrosynthesis videos on your channel. You could contact me for some easy synthetic procedures or literature to show on your channel!

[@Chemiolis]

I’m looking into doing some electrowinning soon. For organic electro, I might do it again if it is necessary/convenient. It can be a bit limiting in scale sometimes.

[@ottowalter2519]

Yes I know. Especially when using the screening kits like the Electrasyn etc from IKA. There are reactions known working in larger scale and easy work up procedure. I was involved in some multi gram scale up. Sometimes flow can solve this limitation.

[@Chad-Giga.]

How does microwave hydro diffusion come into play here?

[@gio9789]

i love that under everyone of these obscure videos there is someone doing a PhD in that topic that is obviously procrastinating on their thesis(looking at you Tom)

[@HYEpower]

Your generation has the worst narcissism where you need to interject things that have nothing to do with this, while telling us how intelligent you think you are then tell him how super happy you would be to see more videos then tell him to contact you so his videos get made how you think they should.... you are a zoomer, or millennial.... I can tell

[@Correct_Opinion]

Reject complicated organic catalysts, embrace electrons

[@liammccreary2941]

You’re basically the only organic chemist on KZbin who still makes legitimate chemistry videos! Please keep it up, your content is amazing!

[@tedburycombo2178]

There's one other gentleman that does great videos . Poor mans chemist is the channel . Worth watching

[@sheepwars2959]

Electro organic chemistry sounds fascinating and all, but what really blew my mind in that video was this showerhead funnel you used to fill your column with solvent at 8:00 . I haven't run a column in 8 years but where was this piece of glassware when I did? I've never seen this anywhere. Our glassblowers could have easily made this. I feel like i missed out on something important.

[@Gunbudder]

Okay, faraday's per mol is completely insane. COMPLETELY. I had to walk down a long path to even figure out how the hell any scientist thought up this unit of measure. First, you have the SI unit for electrical charge, which is coulomb. Then you have a constant called Faraday's Constant which is the amount of coulombs in 1 mol of electrons, expressed as coulombs per mol. Then you have a goofy NON STANDARD unit of measure called the faraday (little f) which is an amount of coulombs equal to Faraday's Constant times Avogadro's Number, expressed as coulombs. Then finally you have faraday's per mol which is actually... COULOMBS PER MOL AGAIN. But its worse than that! its an AMOUNT of coulombs per mol!! Only a chemist could come up with such a foul non standard usage of SI because it contains Faraday's Constant and Avogadro's Number in such a way that it likely makes some basic algebra simpler down the line. JUST USE COULOMBS PER MOL. My brain hurts. Oh and don't confuse this with the SI unit farad! that is 1 coulomb per volt! And you will likely deal with farads doing electrochem because they are how capacitors are characterized.

[@kingofblu2067]

I was always interested in electro chem and I’m finishing up my second semester of ochem. This video really got me hyped to see how vast electro chem can be! I don’t think I’ll end up doing this in the future, but it still looks amazing!

[@EnUsUserScreenname]

Kinda got me excited about the progesterone synthesis... any chance you're gonna do a video about prog or maybe estradiol? 🤠

[@Chemiolis]

Maybe in the future! Currently no plans for hormones, but I would prefer doing it chemically (without electro). My choice would probably be testosterone though ;)

[@EnUsUserScreenname]

@@Chemiolis Testosterone is really cool too. Without at least a little bit present, one's hippocampus would be very unhappy 😅

[@LenKusov]

@@Chemiolis Going off readily-available precursors, testosterone is by far the easiest because converting between corticosteroids, progestins, androgens, and estrogens requires making/breaking double bonds without destroying everything else. DHEA is available over-the-counter in many countries and is biologically not very useful, so it's a great synthesis platform because it's an androgen you can easily convert to actual, useful testosterone in a lab with simple reduction/hydrogenation reactions. Estriol is also available OTC but not in pure form, so there IS a readily-available estrogen to do similar syntheses with if you don't mind having to extract it from like 7 bottles of menopause lotion.

[@Gameboygenius]

@@EnUsUserScreenname you might enjoy Thy Labs. :)

[@bromisovalum8417]

@@LenKusov There exists an interesting single-step approach using biofermentation with starved, oxygen-saturated yeast, that converts DHEA into testosterone in one step. It is only suitable for small amounts though, a gram per gallon of fermented broth at best, and extraction will surely be a pain in the butt. Their approach was very interesting though, under normal conditions baker's yeast has a reducing action, but it is possible to tweak starved yeast into becoming an oxidation catalyst. They used plain baker's yeast, but it had to be pre-treated in a very specific fashion with aqueous acetaldehyde in a nutrient-poor environment and constant oxygen-enriched air bubbling for a few days. Then you add it to an aqueous suspension of DHEA and some nutrients, and keep bubbling air/oxygen in for some time, it would oxidise the DHEA to androstenedione in situ. Next you add sugar to the mixture and let it ferment in normal conditions which turns the yeast into its normal reducing mode again, and the androstenedione gets selectively reduced to testosterone. All in all a novel and elegant approach. Still the whole madness today where people readily take hormones as if they were candy, I don't like it.

[@THYZOID]

Just like biochemistry. E chem is black magic as well

[@Aragmatiki]

I am writting a paper on this right now. Organophosphorus electrochemistry :) cheers

[@dillaques]

Awesome chemistry! I want to try some electrochemical organic synthesis now!

[@bromisovalum8417]

It often looks good on paper, but can be a headache in practice. A good place to start is a Kolbe synthesis because of the simple setup. Then switch to divided cells, try a 'simple' electroreduction of oxalic acid to glyoxylic acid. A PC power supply is a good source of low voltage high current, and you need a rheostat to specifically adjust current to the required current density on the electrode. When using divided cells, it is also recommended to use a reference electrode (usually calomel or silver chloride) to be able to fine-tune required voltage (all excess will convert to unwanted resistance/heat + fine tuning voltage at cathode allows for selective reductions).

[@erickpatino9221]

Organic electrochemist right here! Great video. I use electrasyn quite often and can say it changes the game for good. Electrochemistry introduces more variables besides that of organic chemistry, which can be a nightmare for some but also an advantage as you can get different outcomes from the pure electrochemical optimization. Gladly electrasyn handles that very well and not much electrochemistry is required for one to get to know the field

[@clarfonthey]

F/mol is… such a weird unit. I guess it makes sense when you consider the substance like a capacitor being charged up by the apparatus, but it still smells strongly of unit crimes.

[@bobtron32]

Faraday, not farad. It's one mole of electrons.

[@clarfonthey]

...god, I hate it when units use the same letters. That makes more sense but I'm just more upset.

[@moffattF]

Key challenge is obtaining high yields. Isn’t it??? Large scale industrial applications have been achieved but they’re as rare as hens’ teeth.

[@mcwolfbeast]

How do people figure out what that wild mixture of chemical had to be to react favourably to the anode/cathode material and electricity to get the product? Almost looks like magic or alchemy to me!

[@Chemiolis]

Most of it is based on previous work! Everyone builds on eachother’s research and uses it to discover something new.

[@raulgim306]

Mmm something not very soluble and higher yield as literature probably ureas. Them are very dificult to separate by coloumn because the distribute in there. They can be precipitated in cold DCM but allways stay a little un solution. Sorry for bad english i am from spain

[@EddieTheH]

Don't worry about your English, I'm in the UK and half the natives here are worse! 👍

[@puo2123]

Steglich esterification... Painfull. I tried it. Reaction worked. Workup pure horror.... But i had DCC

[@Pootycat8359]

I wonder if such a method could be used, instead of LAH, to reduce a nitrile to an amine?

[@z3rocool]

taking diy hrt even further

[@Psychx_]

I haven't found any literature or papers that have tested this specific compound, but based on substances with similar structures (substituted 4'-arylethyl-4-phenylmorpholines), you likely made a blood thinner, tyrosinkinase/NPM-ALK inhibitor, HIF-1alpha inhibitor or potent ribosomal kinase 1-3 inhibitor. In any case, I'm quite sure that it's very unhealthy if ingested. Also, PubChem is great :D

[@Psychx_]

@user-yb5cn3np5q The inhibitor properties I listed above are utilized in several novel/research anti-cancer drugs, so a fulminant cytotoxic reaction would be plausible - I said >very< unhealthy for a reason xD

[@samira.8919]

Echem is awesome! Thanks for making a great video showing the emerging practicality of electrosynthesis :)

[@ligmabaldrich485]

This made my day! Please don't stop uploading chem content. I need my chemistry fix over the break.

[@kalebdye4378]

Love the username!

[@mmmhorsesteaks]

Aren't we a fancy lad, using DIC in stead of DCC :3

[@adonaielzuucki3743]

Ozonolysis is the latest "new" tool in organic chemistry. The old oxidizers such as permanganate or chrome get left in the dust. Uses 95% Acetone. It streamlines the process, leaves .HCl intact. Under 1 hour to completion. 90% yield. Pale yellow colour. Amazing!

[@bromisovalum8417]

Ozonolysis isn't new at all, it's just the same old early 20th century methods repackaged as "green chemistry". Also ozonolysis usually requires dry ice temps, and isn't without risk, intermediate ozonides are often sensitive explosives.

[@simonebiuso3098]

lesgoooooo drugs

[@chemistrycapital]

Amazing stuff! Probably the first video of an electrasyn being used outside of a university lab on youtube?

[@snowdaysrule]

Yay electrochemistry! I just got done running a chlorate cell with mmo electrodes and an old pc power supply at 4A for 60 days ❤

[@MisterFizz]

Seems 4-(4-(3,4-dimethoxyphenethyl)phenyl)morpholine is a high value chemical. What is it primarily used for commercially?

[@Ss67689....]

Thats brilliant. I always wondered if that was possble, not that i enjoyed electrochemistry. I just figured it would somehow work to perform organic chem one day.

[@joshpasstheaxe]

Many years ago, knew a meth head in Kentucky, who would run electricity thru chicken wire, and spray it down with cans of Insecticide. It crystalized on the wire, and he'd bust it off and sell it as other products. As someone with no chemistry experience, It's cool seeing chemistry/electricity used in a lab setting with better purpose lol

[@Playfulpat]

dang you dry load your column? now I'm going to distrust the rest of your chemistry knowledge /s EDIT: nvm you made a slurry for your second column so I trust your chemistry again!

[@simonlinser8286]

Ive been thinking about this topic and I'm not any type of chemist but really find it interesting

[@Afroacend]

Video suggestions can you turn acrylonitrile to polyacrylonitrile and then carbon fibre if possible ❤ love your vid btw.

[@mdrafiqul3358]

🌱🌱🌱

[@tracybowling1156]

Uh, you lost me at short bath distillation. This synthesis seems intense. There are a lot of steps and a new machine. You didn't even break a sweat. You understood all of it! That's truly awesome!

[@Don_Soucy]

The process is actually called short "Path" distillation.

[@soulreaper359]

Cause it’s distilled directly or via a “short path” :D

[@otterconnor942]

I feel like if you did this a century ago you'd be burned at the stake

[@tsclly2377]

Ah, but what are the PKa's and energy used .. Furthermore, can the chromatography be enhanced by 'holding' the impurity to the top with a magnetic field or light charged grid?

[@James2210]

Do you have any interest in molten salt electrochemistry? I always thought it was interesting that you could theoretically melt a eutectic mix of NaOH and KOH in your oven. I never tried it because those things can cause nasty burns if they have any water trapped in them

[@Drjtherrien]

Me eyeballing the 250A power supply I have...

[@Ma_X64]

This topic is my favorite. RedOx with wires is awesome.

[@Critical-Smoke]

those reasons to ignore electrochemistry are dumb. but you are smart. can you recommend a book on how you knew how to simplify the reactions as you did in your wonderful video?

[@jayanthafernando2534]

Would like to know the availability of videos and literature for electro synthesis of possible industrial chemicals

[@petercrossley1069]

Stop saying “amount of steps” which is bad English. It is “number of steps”.

[@stevestarcke]

It's good to see electrochemistry expand into organic chemistry. Thanks!

[@sv_n]

Hate to admit, but I usually don't focus on the actual chemistry. I come here to just watch mixing of odd stuff and its outcome which feels therapeutic enough to calm my weary soul.

[@sikcJr]

I see that someone watched Baran’s intro to his seminars multiple times 😂😂 excellent work lad

[@transkryption]

Love your work.... ❤ your opening words were very apt...

[@SherKhan0122]

Can we get an NMR spectrum or something to see that the product is what you say it is?