Hope it’s ok to share my chemistry Instagram with a plastic model of Hexabenzocoronene (HBC) that was mentioned in the article.[1]
I posted similar photos of other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) including napthalene, which are also mentioned in the article. [2]
In all, I had about 10 posts on PAH’s for laypeople and chemists who want to admire the structure of these fascinating saturated planar hydrocarbons.
[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/CxUs8YzO28Y/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ...
[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/CxFCSueOrA2/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ...
> Its peculiar behaviour, such as its surprising stability despite being highly unsaturated, hinted at a deeper mystery that would not be fully resolved until the mid-19th century with the proposal of its cyclic structure.
How were chemists in the early 19th century able to determine benzene must be highly unsaturated without knowing its structure? Did they simply combust it and measure the amount of water vapor and carbon dioxide produced?
I'll admit I know very little chemistry, but I think the article would've been much better for people like me of it included any specific examples at all of benzene uses. It's filled with assurances that it's important and used all over the place but I didn't find that very enlightening.
I was a kid when there was a Benzene spill up where I lived at the time (Duluth, MN). I remember having to evacuate to our aunt's house out of town. My dad stayed at home doing yardwork until he felt "a little lightheaded" and finally joined us.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Nemadji_River_train_derai...
Seattle’s Gas Works Park has some strange equipment to address the benzene contamination. Bold move to make industrial sites into parks (it is one of the best in Seattle though!)
Edit: better link https://apps.ecology.wa.gov/cleanupsearch/site/2876
Original link was older 2005 report: https://apps.ecology.wa.gov/cleanupsearch/document/1509
The Royal Institution, where Faraday first isolated Benzene, is celebrating with a Discourse next month: https://www.rigb.org/whats-on/discourse-celebrating-200-year...
I've read that back in the day chemists used to nearly bathe in this stuff. Now it's rarely used in instructional chem labs. Heck as an undergrad in the 90's we were using Potassium Dichromate as an oxidizer. I spilled some on me and it ate through my lab coat and shirt beneath it. Probably should have had an apron on too...
Kekule who dreamt of 6 serpents each eating others tail and discovered the hexavalent structure, meanwhile cries in a corner. No mention of Kekule in the article.
I once pulled on a glass pipette too hard and got benzene in my mouth. This was 36 years ago, still doing well :-)
I did an internship at a chemical laboratory once.
The older folks told me that they aren't allowed to use the awesome stuff anymore.
Back in the days, they would use Benzene for everything, the only stuff that would get the lab floors clean at the end of the day.
Same with asbestos, leaded fuel, and whatnot. Compounds that are perfect for their use cases, yet highly toxic.
Maybe the target audience doesn’t need to be reminded, but benzene is really toxic and dangerous and it’s odd the article doesn’t mention that.
The article talks about the wonders of bucky balls and nanotubes - does anyone know what useful stuff has come out of those yet? I think I heard there's some work on nanotubes coming up on transistors in the next gen of chips? Not sure what bucky balls and other fullerenes are being used for? (I remember originally there was talk of lubricants?)
Story Time:
After I graduated, I went to work for a large PE firm that most of you probably hate, working for one of their subsidiaries focused on energy who happened to have a couple refineries. As someone passionate about renewables, I was actually excited to go see the underbelly of one of the most evil companies. I also wanted to learn more about the energy industry and the maze of pipes that looked like steel spaghetti to me.. it was also always in the back of my mind that those student loans wouldn't pay for themselves.
I started off in IT but eventually was fortunate enough to land a job focusing on their developing new products with other portfolio companies that focused on addressing challenges in O&G. One of the things I prided myself on was spending time, boots on the ground, with the people who were doing the day to day work and learning about what there problems were. This included a lot of escorted trips through the plant learning about the chemical processes as well as work processes, etc.
One of the things I had picked up on was how nasty benzene was, this was widely acknowledged at the time by the company, and not in the typical window dressing sort of way that these things are often glossed over.
Well long story short, one day I'm standing on top of grating resting above a concrete pit coming off a refining unit while they are using a truck sized vacuum to extract the liquid (guess what the truck is called), which is told is an every day occurance. Standing a few feet above the liquid, it looks like dirty water. As an afterthought, I ask "what is this liquid?".
"Oh, it's just benzine"
... taps 4 gas meter that's supposed to keep me safe from anything "well isn't this thing supposed to go off?"
"Not all the time"
Never did that again.
I was surprised it was treated so nonchalantly, but when your job is to deal with dangerous stuff day in and day out, I guess certain things don't raise alarms. I, of course, didn't ask what concentration it was, etc., I just filed a few lessons away. But it's always stuck with me how routine some of this incredibly dangerous work can seem, and how difficult it must be to differentiate types of danger when they're not things that are obviously dangerous, such as having your finger chopped off, or worse, ruining a nice set of steel toes.
Anyway, that's my benzine story.
I realize the article is asking for a login (a free account). Here is the Archived link
It amazes me that the same person who discovered benzene also discovered electromagnetic induction and Faraday’s laws of electrolysis.
Benzene must've been examined down to the nth degree in quantum analysis. Maybe there's an article ?
I love articles like this that give the context and history to important but not often talked about molecules. I enjoyed this as much as the "chemicals I will never work with" series.
I used to have to use this for potentiometric titrations, along with toluene for maybe 6 months I was exposed to this stuff daily...how fucked am I?
I remember in high school chemistry (or physics?) we had a wooden model of the benzene ring with the ground state molecular orbitals. Diameter about 30cm.
> Celebrating the molecule that changed the world
"The"?? There are multiple.
"...benzene holds a special place in education. Generations of high school and university students have been introduced to the elegance of its structure and the profound mystery surrounding its stability."
Admire it from a distance.
"Benzene is classified as a carcinogen, which increases the risk of cancer and other illnesses, and is also a notorious cause of bone marrow failure. Substantial quantities of epidemiologic, clinical, and laboratory data link benzene to aplastic anemia, acute leukemia, bone marrow abnormalities and cardiovascular disease.
"...There is no safe exposure level; even tiny amounts can cause harm."
[dead]
[flagged]
Interesting article. I have always viewed Benzene as a bogeyman of sorts. My parents both interacted with it often throughout my life. My dad was a chemical engineer for an oil company, and he often spoke of spills and incidents. As a kid, I never understood what it was, but the tone and urgency were always something scary.
I also strongly suspect my mother's Benzene exposures (nurse cleaning lab slides with Benzene and no PPE) led to me battling Langerhans Histiocytosis throughout my childhood.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langerhans_cell_histiocytosis