Things I Won’t Work With: Dioxygen Difluoride (2010) | Hacker News Reader

Things I Won’t Work With: Dioxygen Difluoride (2010)

blogs.sciencemag.org

73 pointsCarolineW30 comments

This appears to have a three year cycle on HN. Three years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5546450

Six years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1148425

This is the first time I've seen it, and I quite enjoyed it.

Yeah, its my favorite chemistry story.

If it's the first time you've seen it, I recommend going through the whole "Things I Won't Work With" archives[0]. They're a great read. "Sand Won't Save You This Time" is hilarious (from a safe distance) and where Lowe started hitting his stride.

It will also (rightfully, it's fantastic) make you look for the Ignition! PDF, because it's not every day you read a paragraph introduced with:

> It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that’s the least of the problem.

then find out said introduction is 100% on the spot.

[0] http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/category/thing...

This stuff is hilarious! I know only basic high school chemistry, but I'm able to follow most of this at a sort of "I kind of get it" level – enough to get some seriously good laughs out of it. Thanks for this, I feel like someone just told me about the Yellowstone supervolcano for the first time!

"Sand Won't Save You This Time" is the best one.

If you enjoy stories of Chemicals With Alarming Properties, then be sure to check out Charles Stross's short story, "A Tall Tail." (Very Big Grin)

http://www.tor.com/2012/07/20/a-tall-tail/

I stumbled upon this MeFi discussion when I searched for "Atom City Number Nine."

http://www.metafilter.com/118133/A-Tall-Tail

This is my favorite chemical that he's written about: http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2008/02/26/san...

Seen it before, still a fun read though. What else could you say about a substance that will instantly set ICE on fire?!

> What else could you say about a substance that will instantly set ICE on fire?!

That's nothing! From the same series:

> The compound also a stronger oxidizing agent than oxygen itself, which also puts it into rare territory. That means that it can potentially go on to “burn” things that you would normally consider already burnt to hell and gone, and a practical consequence of that is that it’ll start roaring reactions with things like bricks and asbestos tile.

http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2008/02/26/san...

Yes, chlorine trifluoride will set asbestos on fire.

Obligatory: https://xkcd.com/1053/

Not everyone knows everything :)

I don't think that comment is criticizing the dupe, just mentioning it and providing links to earlier discussions.

I love the lesson in the alt text, "Saying 'what kind of an idiot doesn't know about the Yellowstone supervolcano' is so much more boring than telling someone about the Yellowstone supervolcano for the first time."

It's so true and it really is how we should look at life! Not knocking the original commenter either, just putting this out there!

Still, it should have a "(2010)" in the title.

One more from same series.

Things I Won’t Touch: Hydrofluoric Acid (2004) : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10678571

(81 points by networked 100 days ago | past | web | 63 comments)

Google HN for intitle:"Things I Won't" : https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=site%3Anews.ycombinato...

But it does not show parent's links. One more reason for a more explicit search engine.

You mean like this? https://hn.algolia.com/?query=%22things%20I%20won%27t%22&sor...

Obligatory "you may also like" reccomendation: Ignition! by John D Clark ( http://www.sciencemadness.org/library/books/ignition.pdf ), which is an unofficial history of rocket fuel. A mixture of hard science and lab-exploding anecdotes.

I really appreciate the link. Currently, Amazon has it available for sale for $20005.56 new or $2904.00 used (no typos there). Seems like the market-making bots have botched again...

It's actually kinda hard to find - at least harder than I'd expect for such a well recommended book. Time to start rummaging through my local book stores :)

Ignition! has been out of print for decades now, it was a short run and close to self-published (Rutgers University Press isn't exactly mass-market). It's possible that you'd find it at a bookstore but really doubtful, more likely to be found rummaging at book fairs or during estate sales.

And unfortunately if you ask Rutgers University Press about the status of Copyright on the work, they don't actually know who owns it, or so I read the last time Ignition! came up in discussion on HN.

I used to work in a semiconductor processing facility many years ago. There were workers who worked with hydrofluoric acid at benches. That stuff was nasty. If it got on your skin it would rapidly dissolve your body down to the bone.

They had their elbows attached to cords. If they jerked their arms back quickly they would be flooded with water from overhead. There were showers with pull cords along the wall that would dump a tremendous amount of water then the cord was pulled.

I assume this ridiculous practice isn't used any more.

It technically goes through the skin and the gloves which is why it attacks bone. Water doesn't solve the problem so I am curious as to why their workspace would be like that, you need a CaCO3 paste if i remember correctly and then head to hospital.

My memory could easily be wrong. It was 40 years ago. I've told the story so many times it could have "evolved" over the years. (grin) Maybe something other than water was dumped. You really have to be careful about technical details here on HN.

Edit: And maybe water would make a difference before it started eating through the gloves, hence the elbow trick. The showers might have been for other situations.

The part about Hangzhou is interesting.

> But I do note that if you run the structure through SciFinder, it comes out with a most unexpected icon that indicates a commercial supplier. > That would be the Hangzhou Sage Chemical Company. They offer it in 100g, 500g, and 1 kilo amounts, which is interesting, because I don’t think a kilo of dioxygen difluoride has ever existed.

The lesson is that some companies will offer to sell you something just to get your order. It doesn't cost much, or anything, to advertise. If you send a request, they are 1/2way to making a deal. Only then do they need to decide if they can actually make it, and do so profitably.

Has anybody mentioned dimethylmercury yet?

There are articles on dimethylcadmium[1] and dimethylzinc[2] in the same series

[1] http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2013/05/08/thi...

[2] http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2009/10/23/thi...

ask about the free shipping. hilarious

"The sulfur chemistry of FOOF remains unexplored, so if you feel like whipping up a batch of Satan’s kimchi, go right ahead."

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