GratIngs

The reference http://www.southalabama.edu/environm...pendic2003.DOC is a laugh, it is :- Inaccurate (e.g. mixing sodium hydroxide and water does not result in combustion), incomplete and very ambiguous (e.g. acetaldehyde + acetic acid = explosion, acetic acid + acetaldehyde = increased temperature!!!). Also, if you were using dimethyl sulphate the last thing that you should be concerned about is the violent reaction with ammonium hydroxide. DMS is extremely dangerous, one drop on the skin can kill; ammonium hydroxide should always be within arms reach for de-contamination purposes. It was common practise at my university to use 50:50 acetone:chloroform for chromatographical analysis. Looking back this was a dangerous practice since the eluent was disposed of along with all of the other liquid waste chemicals.