From: [d--e] at [unislc.slc.unisys.com] (Dale Clark) Subject: Re: Nitrous update... Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1993 14:36:04 -0600 (MDT) ---------------------------------- NITROUS OXIDE ---------------------------------- GENERAL INFO ------------ Dinitrogen monoxide. N2O. Constituent of earth's atmosphere (0.00005%). US pat. 2,111,276 (1938 to DuPont). Sweetish odor and taste. Freely soluble in sulfuric acid. Soluble in alcohol, ether, and oils. Supports combustion. Melting point -90.81F. At 20F and 2 atm, one liter of N20 dissolves in 1.5 liters of water. Very stable and rather inert chemically at room temperatures. While in the steel cylinder N20 is compressed to the form of gas over liquid and has a pressure of about 800 lbs/sq. in. at room temperature. First discovered by English chemist Joseph Priestly 1772. STRUCTURE --------- N -- N -- O COMMERCIAL DRUG NAMES --------------------- Factitious Air, Hyponitrous, Hyponitrous Acid Anhydride, Laughing gas. LD-50 ----- There are no available citations on the LD-50 of nitrous oxide. ACTIONS ------- Nitrous oxide is a colorless gas less irritating than other oxides of nitrogen. High concentrations and inhalation produce a narcotic/ anesthetic and strong analgesic effect. Its primary use is as an anesthetic in surgical operations of short duration; principally dentistry. Nitrous oxide dissolves in the synaptic lipid membranes of the brain. It is not known to produce any effect on opioid receptors. Upon inhalation, nitrous readily passes into the blood stream whereby it is not metabolized by the liver. Effects begin within seconds and can last for 3 or more minutes. Although some persons report a sense of well- being may remain for several hours. Nitrous oxide is non-toxic, but is dangerous. Deaths usually result from accidents due to frostbite reactions when attempting to inhale the gas directly from cylinders, or serious injuries from falling or operating a motor vehicle. Nitrous oxide does not provide enough oxygen (anesthesiologists mix it with 30% pure oxygen) therefore the 100% inhalation of nitrous can result in hypoxia and brain death. Mild nausea and a dry throat are the only reported physical side effects. DRUG INTERACTIONS ----------------- None listed. CREATION PROCESS ---------------- Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas) is most commonly made by the thermal decomposition of ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3). The chief impurity of the product is N2, although, NO2, N, O2, and CO2 may also be present. In addition, NO (nitric oxide), NH3 (ammonia), and H2O (water -- the other product of the *successful* reaction) are also produced. The resulting gas must be passed through water for purification. Nitrous oxide can also be manufactured by the action of zinc on dilute nitric acid and the action of hydroxylamine HCl (NH2OH * HCl) on sodium nitrite (NaNO2). First, ammonium nitrate is heated to ~169.6 C until the chemical fuses. Decomposition with occur with temperatures above 210 C. Upon heating, ammonium nitrate yields nitrous oxide (N2O) gas and can be used as an industrial source of that gas. Ammonium nitrate is soluble in H2O, slightly soluble in ethyl alcohol, moderately soluble in methyl alcohol, and soluble in acetic acid solutions containing NH3. The resulting gas is 95% pure, however 97% purity can be achieved after purification. _Laughing Gas_ states that the temperature (optimum or self-regulating is not stated) for the reaction is 240 C. But they caution against trying it at home: Occaionally, following in the footsteps of Priestly and Davy, individuals attempt to synthesize N2O. This is definitely not recommended, for several reasons. First, the synthetic process frequently employed (heating ammonium nitrate) may lead to an explosion, and has been the cause of major accidents and numerous injuries in the industrial synthesis of N2O. Second, other oxides of nitrogen may be obtained as byproducts of the synthetic process. One of these, nitrogen diooxide, is extremely toxic, and can lead to rapid destruction of lung tissue, even if inhaled in small quantities. The danger of explosion may be low if you keep the pressure down. The "Dr. Atomic" cartoon instructions even go so far as to make it an open system -- the end is a plastic bag LOOSELY HELD over the last hose. The doctor says that you should only synthesize it if you are a professional chemist working under controlled laboratory conditions, but in the picture there is a home setup using three flasks. The first one contains the NH4NO3 and is heated. The third is a "bong" type device which bubbles the gas through water. The second is a trap to prevent the "bong" water from reaching the heated flask under negative pressure. A posted article and 1 follow-up: --------------------------------- A good way to synthesize Nitrous from Ammonium Nitrate is through a similar flask method. In one flask, you have the AmNi. That flask has a two-hole stopper with a thermometor and a glass tube leading to the two-hole stopper of the next flask. The glass tube goes all the way down to the bottom of the second flask which is filled with a solution of washing soda and water (cold). The 2nd hole-stopper also contains a glass tube going from the second flask to a pipe (glass or otherwise) approx. 2 or 3 in. in diameter (you can have it as you want, but the larger you get, you start losing pressure). Inside the pipe is steel wool (this and the washing soda solution will filter out the heavier oxides like NO2, NO3, etc.). Then at the other end of the pipe is some kind of stopper with a small glass tubing in it. You can either place a bag right over this glass tubing, or do whatever else you want with it. Follow-up: ---------- If you value the precious gift of breath, then you will not inhale directly from the end of this device. As said before, triple filter the gas to remove the NOx gases. Lung damage is cumulative and not pretty. If you do not have the equipment or knowledge to do this reaction with care, then just buy the gas at the local head shop. If you do have the equipment and the knowledge, then make sure you use an airstone device in the filtering section to increase surface area of the filtered gas. Also, a check for NOx would be nice before you go into meta-meta-geometry-and-philosophy mode with the N2O. CHEMICAL COMMERCIAL USE / HAZARDS -------- ------------------------ ammonium nitrate High-production industrial chemical, explosives, fertilizers, pyrotechnics, freezing mixtures, rust inhibitor. MAY BE EXPLOSIVE IN LARGE QUANTITIES hydroxylamine Organic preparations. EXPLOSIVE / CORROSIVE nitric acid Wide industrial usages; catalyst. EXPLOSIVE zinc Wide industrial usages.