[klowen]

 ???I was in the lab yesterday making a buffer with the flu and wasn't thinking straight.....I was weighing out my solids into the same beaker: sodium fluoride, SDS and sodium deoxycholate however I had rinsed my beaker first, so the bottom was wet...which was probably a no no. Anyway, I weighed out the NaF, then the SDS (C12H25NaO4S) and when I added the sodium deoxycholate (C24H39NaO4) and unanticipated reaction occurred producing a sharp nasty smell that took my breath away and turned some of the solids yellow. My chemistry is rusty. Can anyone enlighten me as to what reaction would have occurred? I'm hoping I didn't produce HF....!!

[Dan]

Though I see no acid in the mixture, the only volatile like that I can imagine being produced here is HF.

You should seek medical attention immediately as a precaution - HF burns typically do not show until about a day or so after, and HF inhalation can be fatal as delayed blistering in the lungs can basically drown you.

This is a very good example of why you should understand the hazards associated with what you are working with before you start. Please post an update if you are still alive.

[klowen]

60 hours later. Still alive. I'm pretty sure that it was decomposition of SDS that likely produced sulfur oxides - giving rise to the smell and yellowing and possibly a little H2SO4 in the process. HF formation from NaF requires a really strong acid.

[Arkcon]

Or you may have simply inhaled some fine SDS powder.  That's happened to me, and that stuff is choking and nasty for days after inhaling.  Yes, its only shampoo -- but not in powdered form, and then inhaled.

Seriously, don't do lab work when you're seriously incapacitated.  I once made a buffer with a ripping migraine headache that hurt so bad, I actually lay my head, face first, on a lab bench to rest -- I simply didn't care about lab hygiene at that point.  At any rate, the reaction failed for the rest of the week, because instead of make 8.6 buffer, I made 6.8 buffer.

If you really had the flu, and not just a bad cold, you should have stayed home.  If you're really too sick, then say so to the powers that be at your lab, and use the time to catch up on paperwork, and promise to make up the prep work when you're better.

[klowen]

Agree. However I don't think it was inhalation of actual SDS as I was wearing a dust mask. It was definitely due to some kind of exothermic reaction that occurred only upon addition of the Na deoxycholate to the SDS. The reaction only occurred in a small area in the centre of the beaker and only appeared to involve the SDS and the deoxycholate...still no closer to figuring out what actually occurred!