From: [d--e] at [unislc.slc.unisys.com] (Dale Clark)
Subject: Re: Nitrous update...
Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1993 14:36:04 -0600 (MDT)
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NITROUS OXIDE
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GENERAL INFO
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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
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N -- N -- O
COMMERCIAL DRUG NAMES
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Factitious Air, Hyponitrous, Hyponitrous Acid Anhydride, Laughing gas.
LD-50
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There are no available citations on the LD-50 of nitrous oxide.
ACTIONS
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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
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None listed.
CREATION PROCESS
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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:
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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:
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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
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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.