Chemical Forums
Specialty Chemistry Forums => Other Sciences Question Forum => Topic started by: harpadoodle on May 10, 2013, 07:30:43 PM
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Yesterday, in my college gen chem, we completed a lab in which we synthesized trans-[Co(en)2Cl2]Cl.
We used these chemicals:
CoCl2 . 6H2O(s)
3 M ethylenediamine (en)
10% H2O2
12 M HCl
95% Ethanol
So we took 2.4 grams of CoCl2 . 6H2O(s), dissolved with 8mL water, added 8mL 3M ethylenediamine, added 8mL 10% H2O2, added 12 mL 12M HCl, heated it with a hot water bath for 50 minutes, then placed it in an ice bath and added 4mL 95% Ethanol.
So at this point, 1/4 of the solution was remaining in the casserole, and we used a vaccuum with a filter to separate the aqueous solution from the newly formed [Co(en)2Cl2]Cl(s) crystals.
So I believe this is the chemical reaction at this point?: [Co(en)2Cl2]+(aq) + OH-(aq) + HCl(aq) -> [Co(en)2Cl2]+(aq) + Cl-(aq) + H2O(l)
This aqueous solution we filtered out was spilled onto my laboratory notebook. I cleaned it up with paper towels, I disposed of the rest of the aqueous solution that didn't spill in the metal cation waste container. I then disposed of my nitrile gloves, after having them being slightly wet from the aqueous solution, and lastly I cut out the entire portion of my lab notebook that the aqueous solution spilled on.
I would like to know how harmful this aqueous solution is given the concentrations and amounts of the components, and if/what I should be worried about. I read the sidebar about spill questions, but the TA didn't have any answers, and since I needed to type out a wall of text to explain it, I felt this would be the best route.
Thanks so much.
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Normaly before any experiment is carried out the MSDS each chemical should be read. From cobalt some danger goes out. The others can be survived by human. Alcohol can be dangerous sometimes too.....hicks. After the procedure almost Peroxide and hydrochloric are gone. So no danger. Cobalt can cause cancer, so this could be a problem maybe.
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You will be fine. LD50 for cobalt is really high, on the order of 20 grams apparently, and ethylenediamine is around there, too, but is volatile enough that once your notebook dried it shouldn't be around anymore.