Hydrazine isn't too bad. Remember that you're goal is an azide... that's like complaining about the toxicity of carbon monoxide and chlorine if you're trying to make phosgene
.
Anyway, you
do not need to distil hydrazine, isolate it as the sulphate (which isn't volatile, thus the risk is
greatly reduced), make a solution of it, add that to an appropriate amount of a calcium nitrate solution, filter out and wash the calcium sulphate ppte, leaving hydrazine nitrate in solution. This is interesting stuff, it's the basis of the astrolite explosives, its VoD is around 8km/sec. Anyway, crystalise out the nitrate salt and dry it. This can then be used to prepare sodium azide by adding more sodium hydroxide to the alcohol/nitrite ester/sodium hydroxide mixture, in order to deprotonate the hydrazinium ion to freebase hydrazine. Sodium nitrate will also be formed in the solution, as will water. This might make pptation of the azide a bit less high-yielding, but not much I wouldn't think. It's best to use hydrazine nitrate rather than sulphate, since if you're using it for lead azide or other heavy-metal azides (as your name kinda suggests, as does the fact that you've visited the E&W Forum) you won't ppte any metal sulphate which would dilute your primary's power, and also sodium sulphate is not soluble in alcohols, whereas IIRC sodium nitrate is, or at least, I believe it is more soluble in alcohols than is the sulphate. You'd have to check that though. But this should make purification of the sodium azide a lot simpler.
A few breaths of fumes will kill you, and in lower concentrations will give you cancer.Any advice on handleing hydrazine?The first statement is a total lie, the second is exagerated. It is a carcinogen, but not a spectacularly powerful one. Saying it "will" give you cancer is perhaps misleading... Advice on handling? Store it as a salt, use it in a dilute solution. Never powder dried salts. That way any risk is very small indeed.
Hydrazine is extreamly explosive when distilled to a high concentration in airYes, that's why you don't distil it in air
. An inert atmosphere is used, such as argon or nitrogen.
Or you could be adventurous and try the sodium amide route, but I think you will find that even less appealing to you
.
Edit: I think junkyards are instructed to dispose of airbags when they arrive, or they send them away to be disposed of. I was lucky enough to know someone who was asked to dispose of some
. Try looking for an abandonned car with one. I think my car has four, dotted about in various places. So if you find a good car, you could get several hundred grams.
So, you're at the junkyard...
"Can I have some airbags please?"
"Why do you want them?"
"Why do
you want them??"
"I don't, but--"
"Well then, give them to me!"
Or maybe the owner just wont care and will give you them.
I have a few times deliberately tried to grow large crystals of lead azide to see if they explode, so far, they have not. I think the risk is small (yet the hazard is great).