Organic Lab Check-In
Bruce A. Hathaway
Southeast Missouri State University
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Welcome to the lab!
• This is the renovated Organic Chemistry lab. It
was first occupied in the Fall of 2007. It is a
huge improvement over what he had before!
• Our goal is to provide you a safe and efficient
working environment.
• We also want to keep the lab looking as nice
as possible!
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Lab Features: Student Hoods
• Everyone works in the hoods, 1 or 2 people to a
hood.
• Drawers are under the hoods: you will have your
own drawer.
• Keys are in locked cabinet: you get the key when
you come to lab, and put it back after you lock
your drawer up when you are done.
• The middle bottom drawer (X6) under each hood
is the common equipment drawer, with clamps,
thermowells, hoses, test-tube racks, etc.
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Lab Features: Student Hoods
• There are air flow alarms on the hoods, which are
pretty much meaningless. We keep them
deactivated most of the time.
• Keep hood sashes down when you are not doing
anything in the hood.
• Keep hood areas clean.
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Supply Hoods
• Liquid and toxic chemicals kept there.
• Organic waste bottles are kept there
o Non-halogenated, non-water-soluble,
organics: no acetone, no water!
o Halogenated organics: no water!
• Be neat! If you spill something, clean it
up.
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Student Writing Areas
• Only for your lab notebook and lab book
• Put coats, backpacks and other stuff in
the area by the door.
• Stools are for this area, not by the hoods.
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Safety: Eyes and Hands
• Everyone wears goggles over your eyes when you
are in the lab, period! This includes when you are
sitting at the writing areas, taking melting points,
washing glassware, etc.
• If you get an irritating chemical into your eyes,
use the eye-wash to irrigate your eyes for 10
minutes. If your eyes are still irritated, you will be
transported to an emergency room for further
treatment.
• Gloves are suggested when handling chemicals
and working on reactions.
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Safety Equipment
Eye wash
o Operation – rotate
eyewash over sink
and wash foreign
substance from eye
for 10 minutes.
o Leave it alone
otherwise!
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Safety: Fires
Hot plates are the main source of fire hazard in the
lab. When heating a flammable solvent on the hot
plates, take the following precautions:
o The beaker or flask will be no more than half-full.
o When adding a flammable solvent, remove the
container from the hot plate, add the solvent, and then
return the container to the hot plate.
o Turn the hot plate off as soon as you are finished with it.
o Keep flammable materials as far away from the hot
plates as possible.
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Fires
Fire should be an unlikely event, since we have few
sources of ignition.
o Fire extinguishers: in the unlikely event of a fire, there are
fire extinguishers located in the lab. Fire extinguishers are
only used in case of a small fire, such as a trash can. If a
large fire were to occur, exit the lab as quickly as possible!
o A fire in a beaker or a flask can be extinguished by covering
it with a watch glass or your bound lab notebook.
o If you were to catch on fire, someone should put you
under the safety shower and pull the handle. You will be
doused with lots of water.
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Safety Equipment
• Fire Extinguisher
o Operation – pull the safety
pin on the handle, squeeze
the handle and aim at the
bottom of the flame.
o Don’t be too close to the
fire with the extinguisher.
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Safety Equipment
Safety Shower
o Operation – pull handle
and stand under
shower
o Remove affected
clothing
o Rinse thoroughly and
wash affected areas
with soap
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Safety: Water
Water faucets: each hood has two sets, one
on each side of the hood.
o The one in the back has an aspirator permanently
attached. This is used for suction filtrations.
o The green one on the front should have a tan hose
attached to it. It is used as a water source, such as
for cooling water for a condenser.
o Try to keep water things away from electrical
things (variable transformers, thermowells, hot
plates).
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Electrical Things in the Hoods
Variable Transformer
• Used to regulate the amount of voltage that a
thermowell receives, which regulates the amount of
heat.
• Make sure that the transformer is plugged in to the
outlet, plugged into the thermowell, and turned on.
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Electrical Things in the Hoods
Thermowell
• Used to heat round-bottomed flask in an apparatus.
• Make sure the thermowell is plugged into a
transformer, not into an outlet: why?
• A Thermowell is usually supported by an iron ring or
a magnetic stirrer under the flask, and is never
placed on the floor of the hood, so that it can be
removed without disassembling the apparatus.
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Electrical Things in the Hoods
Magnetic Stirrer
• Used to stir a reaction with a magnetic stirring bar.
• The stirrer should be placed as close to the flask
being stirred as possible.
• A stirrer can stir through a thermowell.
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Electronic Balances
• Be neat when using these. If you spill something,
clean it up.
• Measure amounts of materials into weigh boats or
beakers. Don’t try to put solids directly into
narrow-necked vessels such as test-tubes or
flasks.
• Be considerate of other people using the
balances: don’t jostle them or create air currents.
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Electronic Balances
• When you are supposed to measure out a certain
mass, for example, 1.0g, don’t spend minutes
attempting to get exactly 1.000g. Get close, and
record exactly what you have obtained. The
instructor will tell you how accurately you need to
measure out an amount.
• Occasionally, weigh boats have enough of a static
charge that they affect the electronics in a
balance. Consult your instructor if a balance
doesn’t seem to be working correctly.
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Other Safety Issues
• Broken glass: if you break something, sweep it
up with the broom and dustpan in the lab,
and put the broken glass in the broken glass
container.
• Minor Cuts: if you cut yourself, rinse out the
cut, apply pressure to stop the bleeding, and
go to the storeroom to get a bandaid.
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Broken Glass Container
Glass breakage
• Obtain dust pan and
broom and sweep up
broken glass and place
in container.
• Do not handle broken
glass by hand.
• Only glass goes in this,
not paper and other
trash!
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General Considerations:
Pouring liquids
• Measure volumes in a graduated cylinder. Volume
markings on beakers and flasks are not very accurate.
• Many bottles of liquids have attached droppers. The
droppers are used to dispense a few milliliters.
• If you need more than a few milliliters, remove the
dropper and place it on a paper towel (if not an acid),
or hold it or place it in a beaker (if an acid), then pour
the liquid into the graduated cylinder.
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General Considerations:
Pouring liquids
• Replace the bottle cap (and any attached dropper)
when you are finished pouring.
• If you spill a liquid, clean it up appropriately. If you
don’t know how to clean it up appropriately, ask!
• If you spill a liquid on you, wash it off with lots of
water and soap. If you spill lots of a corrosive liquid
on you, such as a strong acid, remove the affected
clothing and use the safety shower.
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Cleaning Glassware
• If you know what’s in the glassware, it makes
it easier to know how to clean it.
• If you obtain a volatile organic solvent in a
graduated cylinder, most often you can wave
it in the air to evaporate the last traces of
solvent. Washing the cylinder with water is
ineffective, since many organic solvents are
insoluble in water.
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To wash glassware with soap and water,
do the following:
• Sprinkle a small amount of detergent in your white
plastic tub, and add water until it’s about 1/3 full.
• Immerse small items in the tub, and use a test-tube
brush to remove any residue. For larger items, scrub
them with the wet, soapy brush.
• Rinse the item with water.
• Rinse the wet item with a small amount of acetone.
Acetone removes organic traces, as well as the
remaining water.
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Cleaning Glassware
• When you are done, replace the test-tube
brush in the plastic bottle (brush side out),
and wipe up around the sink.
• The sinks by the rotovaps can be used to clean
glassware if the rotovaps are not being used.
Disconnect the hose at the quick-disconnect
fittings, so you can rinse your glassware.
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Clothing
• Wear clothing that covers you from the shoulder
to your feet.
– No shorts.
– Lab coats are available for sale at the storeroom.
• Wear closed-toed shoes.
– No sandals or flip flops allowed.
– No open-toed shoes.
• You will not be permitted to work in the lab
without proper shoes or clothing.
Other Safety Issues
• No food or drink is permitted in the working
part of the lab. They must be stored on the
shelves where you put your backpacks.
• No cell phone calls in the lab!
• If you have any questions about any safety or
working issue in the lab, ask your instructor or
lab assistant. If you discover a problem, or
have a suggestion on how to make things
work better, please let us know!
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Check-In
• Fill out the information on the top of the white card.
Use your student number, not your Social Security
Number. Write down your locker number somewhere!
• Be sure you have everything in your drawer that is on
the equipment list, and that it is not broken. If you are
missing something, it can be replaced today for free.
After today, you will have to buy it! Make a list, and
take it with the white card to the storeroom.
• Pick up your goggles at the storeroom, and put them in
your drawer.
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