This was yesterday, bought:
2 big cartons of watermelon juice
2 sacks of ice chunks (going to be needing plenty for a salted ice bath, as I need to conduct a reaction over 2 hours, maintained at a temperature of at most 0 'C for about 2-2.5 hours, a borohydride reduction, but the temperature needs to be kept low, and a fourfold excess of NaBH4 used in order to suppress the competing Michael addition between the compound being reduced and the reduced compound formed by providing a higher concentration of borohydride for the substrate being reduced relative to the concentration of the reduction product, so the starting substrate reacts with a molecule of borohydride first instead of meeting up with a molecule of what it is being reduced to and polymerizing by taking part in a Michael addition instead, so the combination of low temperature and excess reducing agent are used to suppress the side reaction.
Bought 4 tubs of ice cream, one mars bar flavour, one daim bar flavour with layers of chocolate and crunchy caramel, a big tub each of honeycomb and of strawberry ice cream. Would sooner have bought 2 tubs of honeycomb icecream but they only had one left and one strawberry, its been too buggering well HOT lately, and I'm guessing other people were thinking exactly the same thing I was, namely 'I want lots of ice cream and I want it yesterday!' and got there before I did.
Tin of cigars.
A roll of electrical tape
A roll of teflon tape, which I'd completely run out of, happened to spot the corner shop, surprisingly, had teflon tape for sale, and I find it really useful for wrapping the necks of glass reagent bottles for storing really aggressive, volatile, corrosive and toxic stuff like iodine monochloride, chromyl chloride, iodine trichloride, phosphorus tri/pentachloride, phosphorus tribromide, sulfuryl or thionyl chlorides, disulfur dichloride and similarly nasty aggressive reagents, for making the fluoropolymer-capped bottles with fluoropolymer seals under the caps, I wrap the necks in teflon too to give an added layer of protection when such things go in the fridge. Was pleased to find that they had that in the corner shop.
Bought a load of bags of different kinds of candies and a 2 liter bottle of blue bubblegum flavour pop.
Got about 100 quid worth of chemicals and glassware to buy too, methinks some 85% phosphoric acid, some TCCA (trichloroisocyanuric acid), and need a fresh supply of pure, undenatured azeotropic ethanol (the azeotrope formed by ethanol with water is 95% EtOH, 5% H2O. Can get a liter of medical grade ethanol with no denaturing agents for £20 inc. shipping, russian stuff, from some eastern european seller, far better value than commercial taxed spirits, no import duty charged and 95% rather than 34.5% vodka, that for 70cl, if its really good vodka can be £30.)
Running a bit low on iodine, and could really, really use a few liters of benzene. Although I'm gonna need the phosphoric acid and TCCA for sure, and the ethanol all soon, so I'll get those first and then spend the surplus on lab glassware and get the other stuff when I get more money this coming week, because I get paid double, get my monthly disability money this week as well as my fortnightly pay.
Which, after rent and food allowance, means lots and lots of new glassware and chemical supplies for lil' old me.
Oh and I need some 1,4-dioxane, a cyclic glycol ether type solvent, but I have what I need to make that from cheap and easily available feedstock, namely ethylene glycol antifreeze, I have at least a gallon or two of that, plus some concentrated sulfuric acid, again got plenty of that, too. Bog cleaner grade 98% H2SO4 and undiluted ethylene glycol antifreeze concentrate will do for making dioxane, and I have both, so no spending needed there, although I am going to need to buy more concentrated sulfuric when I get paid, as once I've finished the heavily used bottle of sulfuric I'm on atm, I think I only have one liter of 98% acid left; and I go through a LOT of concentrated sulfuric.
And when I get paid, need to get myself some concentrated formic acid, and some formamide, or just more formic acid and make my own formamide. And make some acetamide, then do a Hoffmann degradation on that to make some methylamine. Hm...thinking of methylamine...nitromethane. I KNEW I was forgetting something I needed, namely, need some more nitromethane, I have plenty nitroethane but I've completely run dry on nitromethane.
Might not be the season, but it looks like Santa will be working overtime this year
