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I'm on sabbatical leave this year and have discovered that I'm the person in the group who knows the most about glove boxes. I've picked up a few things over the years, but I'm not sure what is important and what's irrelevant. (I'm a solid state chemist and don't have that much use for glove boxes on a regular basis.) Can anyone recommend some resources on "care and feeding" of a glove box? Better yet, do you have any suggestions for general rules of use and maintenance for a glove box?
Tags
One of the (easy to read and short) resources I send my students to is http://www.ilpi.com/inorganic/glassware/glovebox.html. Toward the bottom, there's a list of Bad Things, all of which I agree with! There's also an older book, by Shriver I think, about Manipulation of Air Sensitive Compounds. I'm pretty sure it also has information about gloveboxes, and they haven't really changed much. There's also a good chapter in Advanced Practical Inorganic and Metalorganic Chemistry by R. John Errington. Basically, think before you pump things in (students love to pump in shrink-wrapped syringes which are packed in air!), dry in an oven everything you can (and pump in the rest overnight), try really hard not to use protic solvents--or amines or volatile phosphines (and if you to, purge REALLY well before turning your recirculation back on), and regenerate when the atmosphere starts not "being good" (about 2 times a year for me, but it will depend on the kind of things you use in your box--and how many novice users you have). If you don't have an oxygen/moisture sensor, there's a number of inexpensive ways to keep track of your atmosphere (summarized here: http://books.google.com/books?id=yI_mq_mCf2AC&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=oxyge…)
Hope this helps!
In reply to A bit of info by Lori Watson / Earlham College
I agree with Lori's post, but there is also an ACS symposium series text
Experimental Organometallic Chemistry: A Practicum in Synthesis and Characterization
by Andrea L. Wayda (Editor), Marcetta Y. Darensbourg (Editor)
# Publisher: Oxford University Press
# Pub. Date: November 1987
# ISBN-13: 9780841214385
# 312pp
The book has all sorts of useful info, such as, how to make and use a vapor phase osmometer (sp?) for MW determinations, how to repair holes in gloves, etc.
here is the barns and noble link, but check your local library!
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Experimental-Organometallic-Chemistry/…
In reply to Bringing in vacuum grease? by Maggie Geselbracht / Reed College
In reply to Bringing in vacuum grease? by Maggie Geselbracht / Reed College
What I do is squeeze the grease into a 5-10 mL disposable plastic syringe (can get messy) but don't put the plunger in yet. Pump it in as usual. Once inside, put in the plunger. This is nice because you prevent an explosion of grease in the antechamber, and you get a handy dispenser too.
Adam