Baalchemist: Probably you're right. Perhaps I'm a bit overscared and a sissy, but I strongly disklike working with compounds like HgCl
2 in amounts required for medium-scale RXNs. If anything runs out of control (and everyone experiences this now and then), you will have a problem if the rxn didn't take place in a lab fume hood
. And therefore it's not a question of yield but rather security/health issues...
(although borohydride is toxic, too, but mercury-2-chloride is quite a bit more nasty I thought.. Did you know that mercury poisoning causes insanity?)
I absolutely don't doubt that Aluminum Amalgam reductions can produce very high yields at low cost of reagents and short rxn times. But I thought that avoiding the use of toxic compounds (where possible) is good lab practice?
(ok perhaps I'm just too scared, but I just cannot feel safe when I know that there MIGHT be some residual mercury-(whatever) traces at my work space beecause a recent Al/Hg reduction was a bit too exothermic/not enuff ice was at hand
, lack of experience indeed. Of course this is only fictional and didn't happen at any time.
)
But It's of course the method of choice for big scaleups!
DeeMtermined: WOW! Looks indeed very beutiful, really sparkling! (hats off)
XrLeap: Nice thread you digged up! Thanx for the info! Will have to do some reading..