BROMINE

[strvela]

@allesio3521 yep, that is. Ya know what else is? Piss.

[PyroPudding]

This method of producing bromine is not very efficient, I would recommend the synthesis that myst used, I produced more than you got with equipment that was easily half the price

[starshock01]

I think next time you should have the outlet tube placed in a NaHCO3 solution, hydrobromic acid is alot safer than hydrogen bromide

[ytmachx]

@starshock01 Agreed!

[ubuntupokemoninc]

I want to some day replicate this, but i don't have the money for all the pyrex :(

not make cesium or rubidium :D

[endimion17]

The video explanation is very wrong. Bromine in the sea is not benign because it's dilluted, but because it's reduced to the -1 state (bromide anion). There is no elemental bromine in the sea.

Elemental bromine is dangerous because it's in 0 state and wants electrons so badly, it rips our body molecules apart.

Anyway, cool video.

[ytmachx]

@endimion17 The video description in no way says that it is benign. It only states its presence in pool and sea water from which the elemental bromine can be isolated.

[ampikine]

BTW what are those vapours coming out of the beaker? H2? 

[ytmachx]

@ampikine gaseous HBr that failed to be oxidized to bromine.

[titt5]

Thanks for the good description of sulfuric acid as an oxidising agent!

[titt5]

Wow:) I thought, adding sulfuric acid to potassium bromide will result in gaseous HBr which can be solved in water to hydrobromic acid! similar to this reaction, you can produce hydrochloric acid from the reaction of concentrated sulfuric acid with sodium chloride oO

[douro20]

As the sulfuric acid is added to potassium bromide, potassium bisulfate and hydrogen bromide are produced. This is further oxidised by the sulfuric acid to produce bromine and sulfur dioxide.

[alessio3521]

liquid that is yellow?

[ytmachx]

@alessio3521 H2SO4

[ampikine]

@ytmachx does the Br2 actually distill over at 56C? I was making some hydrobromic acid and accidentally let the temperature rise too high and generated some Br2 so I'm wondering how I'm gonna separate it from the hydrobromic acid. If it doesn't form an azeotrope with water then it should be easy enough.

[PissOutMyAssBarf]

I just asked this in a sciencemadness forum, but thought maybe you would have an idea. I distilled some bromine this weekend, It came out very nicely and the procedure went problem free. It was recommended to me to keep it under concentrated sulfuric acid to reduce fumes and dry it, but upon adding the acid I got an increase in fume production and the acid turned a very cloudy red and continued fuming while the bromine settled underneath. Do you think my acid was contaminated somehow?

[PissOutMyAssBarf]

@PissOutMyAssBarf

I made two samples and decided to store the other underneath distilled water which went smoothly and cut fumes down greatly. Im now trying to decide if I should pipette out the bromine from the acid and deal with each separately.

[ytmachx]

@PissOutMyAssBarf I think that the water in the bromine reacted with the acid raising the temp and thus causing the bromine to fume. Try doing this at low temp.

[ytmachx]

@INTSCFALAFW The condensers are at about 2*C/ 35*F so I didn't think it was really necessary, but the ice bath would be a good idea.

[SierraAlphaSierra]

Love all your videos, I'm a high school chemistry student and I hope to have a nice lab setup like yours!

[ytmachx]

@SierraAlphaSierra Thanks! Check ebay for the glassware.

[quantumdude]

what a joy it must have been to clean all that glass with nasty bromine (and yes I do know that sodium bisulfite or thiosulfate can be used to do so but stil....must have been a real pain).

[ytmachx]

@quantumdude Actually, the bromine evaporates in the air, quite readily, leaving little or nothing behind. I just washed with distilled water.

[quantumdude]

@ytmachx really ? thanks for letting me know. Great job BTW.

[PyroErlend]

I'm extremely jealous of your equipment. I love synthetic chemistry and I'm accumulating quite a nice collection of equipment myself. However, I still need addition funnels, reflux condensers, a Friedrich, a dry-ice condenser, a Dean-Stark trap, fractionating columns, multi-neck flasks, larger flasks, keck clips, etc... But I'm daydreaming.

How much bromine is that? 50-80 ml? I got a 25 ml yield from a synthesis done on a 1/10 scale of yours (starting with 100g NaBr)! What went wrong?

[ytmachx]

@PyroErlend You're right, it was about 70ml. I should have also used MnO2. I think a lot of the HBr escaped oxidation and some of Br stayed in the glassware.

[PyroErlend]

@ytmachx What is in the addition funnel? I used NaBr + H2SO4 + H2O2, which gave an excellent yield.

[ytmachx]

@PyroErlend The addition funnel contains H2SO4 concentrated from battery acid. I have heard that the H2O2 works very well but when combined with H2SO4 it can be a little temperamental.

[PyroErlend]

@ytmachx That might explain your low yields. H2SO4 only oxidizes Br(-) at high temperatures, below 30-50*C or so it results in HBr. But you probably knew that already. What I did was that I added concentrated H2SO4 to powdered NaBr in the reaction flask while stirring. Then I sealed the apparatus and added 30% H2O2 through an addition funnel while stirring and heating the flask on a water bath. The reaction proceeds nicely if you are careful. Adding too much H2O2 can result in a runaway.

[ytmachx]

@PyroErlend Yeah, you're right. I am getting a good mechanical stirrer and I'm planning to do this again with either the MnO2 or H2O2.

[thereelstory]

what is that SECOND CONDENSER CALLED?

[ytmachx]

@thereelstory  It is called a Friedrich condenser

[cheeseboat15]

@ytmachx

The sexy condenser, you mean

I love your videos. I love how you do them on a large scale that can be seen. Even though the steps are not told, I find just watching... amazing..

I have always loved chemistry. I have subscribed in hopes you will continue your work.

[ytmachx]

@cheeseboat15 ThankYou! I do plan to put up several more videos ,but some require a fume hood. I'm working on getting the fume hood.

[boddyxpolitic]

BROMINE!!!!!!!!!!!!.......wtf

[ytmachx]

@boddyxpolitic I think you must mean FTW!

[Myfanwy94]

anyway do u know the yield you got?

[ytmachx]

@Myfanwy94 I got about 70 mL

[sciencoking]

uhm... it doesn´t display your comment, so i´ll post it like this:

okay, and what takes up the electron from the bromide?

[ytmachx]

@sciencoking It's taken up in the reaction mixture.

[Myfanwy94]

@sciencoking

H2SO4 + 2HBr -> 2H2O + SO2 + Br2

2HBr -> 2H+ + 2Br-

Oxidation: 2Br- -> Br2 + 2e-

Reduction: H2SO4 +2e- -> 2OH- + SO2

2OH- + 2H+ -> 2H2O

weiß nicht obs stimmt, habs in 2min hingeschrieben

[Myfanwy94]

thats really great. BUT u made some little mistakes.

at first Sulfuric acid is an oxidizing agent and will oxidize HBr to Br2 and water and will be reduced to sulfur dioxide. the sulfur dioxide can react with the bromine to form sulfuryl bromide in the vapor phase =( so you will lose some bromine.

u should dissolve the bromide salt first in hydrogen peroxide solution (30%).

also dont take so big glasses for this "tiny" amount, you will lose much Br2. and destroy the toxic gasses with lye!

[ytmachx]

@Myfanwy94 I didn't make a mistake, I did exactly what I intended to do. I wasn't looking for maximum efficiency. I got a fair amount of bromine to experiment with. I will submit that you are correct on all of your chemistry

[antiswattt3]

thats awesome man (:

[sciencoking]

KBr+H2SO4

why does this produce bromine?

it´s supposed to make hydrogen bromide... weird

or.. do you know why?

[ytmachx]

@sciencoking You are correct, hydrogen bromide is produced but then it is further oxidized to bromine and sulfur dioxide.

[dbc616]

That's crazy!!! but what's the liquid it's reacting with?

[ytmachx]

@dbc616 Sulfuric acid~ca 95%

[Sebbass69]

This is an amazing set up! But how did you get the bromine out of the condensers and the other parts of your apparatus? They seemed quite full - did you just take it apart and let the Br2 evaporate?

[ytmachx]

@Sebbass69 Thanks, a simple wash with water and the glassware is all clean.

[BrandonFurtwangler]

Can you make a video where you talk about the equipment shown here?

I see stuff like that on TV & in the movies, but I always figured it was hollywood-science.

It would be sweet to see a rundown of each piece and what it does.

[ytmachx]

@BrandonFurtwangler I may do a video on just glassware sometime in the future.

[bamboo4tameshigiri]

Cool, because I'm really jealous of your equipment. I will eventually have a similar setup but it could be 20 years before I have that much spare cash.

[ytmachx]

@bamboo4tameshigiri Twenty years!!!

[bamboo4tameshigiri]

@ytmachx

I'm dirt poor, I lost my construction job when the housing bubble burst and I don't see much in the way of a future. I had to drop out of college because I can't afford it and so I don't have much hope or any great expectations. I say 20 years because I doubt I will be able to afford the lab space and the equipment before then. I wish otherwise, but Im not holding my breath.

[ytmachx]

@bamboo4tameshigiri Sorry to hear that:(

[Barnekkid]

Is it true that bromine is difficult to contain, and that over a period of time it will even escape from an enclosed vessel such as the one you display? How will you use it? Is that your vacuum pump making the noise? Sounds like it's going to self-destruct. Great video. Please do many more.

[ytmachx]

@Barnekkid Yes, it is true. As temperature increases pressure can build. The glass container with a glass stopper will contain it, as long as the stopper stays put.

[Kris246zl]

I'm still SO jealous of your equipment!!

[ytmachx]

@Kris246zl Sorry man! Everything pictured is from Ebay.

[bamboo4tameshigiri]

Bromine ain't so bad. Stay away from chloropicrin. That shit's dangerous.

[ytmachx]

@bamboo4tameshigiri Mercuric chloride is Dangerous!!!