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Off-topic: For anyone interested the guy who wrote this post also has a hilarious section of his blog called "Things I won't work with" http://pipeline.corante.

Off-topic: For anyone interested the guy who wrote this post also has a hilarious section of his blog called "Things I won't work with" http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/things_i_wont_work_with/ http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/things_i_wont_work_with... which documents various insanely dangerous chemicals along with very humourous descriptions of their history, usage, what crazy people tried do do with them and in what ways they have killed people. You do not need to be a chemist to appreciate it.

mauvehaus 14y ago
It looks like there's at least one other fan of stuff blowing up here. I heartily agree that you needn't be a chemist to get a laugh out of it. Anybody who has gotten through 2 years of high school chemistry or a year of college chemistry would probably raise their eyebrows looking at his diagram for hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane [1]. And if you haven't had that much chemistry background, he'll shortly explain why your eyebrows should be retreating towards your hairline at maximum speed when you look at it. [1] http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2011/11/11/things_i_wont_work_with_hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane.php http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2011/11/11/things_i_won...
- Retric 14y ago
  I still think this takes the cake. http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2010/02/23/things_i_wont_work_with_dioxygen_difluoride.php http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2010/02/23/things_i_won... The heater was warmed to approximately 700C. The heater block glowed a dull red color, observable with room lights turned off. The ballast tank was filled to 300 torr with oxygen, and fluorine was added until the total pressure was 901 torr. . . And suddenly O2F2 aka FOOF. Which as you might guess is just all kinds of nasty. Explosive reaction with water at 100 Kelvin etc.
  - AlexandrB 14y ago
    My favourite is: http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2008/02/26/sand_wont_save_you_this_time.php http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2008/02/26/sand_wont_sa... 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.

mauvehaus 14y ago

It looks like there's at least one other fan of stuff blowing up here. I heartily agree that you needn't be a chemist to get a laugh out of it. Anybody who has gotten through 2 years of high school chemistry or a year of college chemistry would probably raise their eyebrows looking at his diagram for hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane [1]. And if you haven't had that much chemistry background, he'll shortly explain why your eyebrows should be retreating towards your hairline at maximum speed when you look at it. [1] http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2011/11/11/things_i_wont_work_with_hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane.php http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2011/11/11/things_i_won...

Retric 14y ago
I still think this takes the cake. http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2010/02/23/things_i_wont_work_with_dioxygen_difluoride.php http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2010/02/23/things_i_won... The heater was warmed to approximately 700C. The heater block glowed a dull red color, observable with room lights turned off. The ballast tank was filled to 300 torr with oxygen, and fluorine was added until the total pressure was 901 torr. . . And suddenly O2F2 aka FOOF. Which as you might guess is just all kinds of nasty. Explosive reaction with water at 100 Kelvin etc.
- AlexandrB 14y ago
  My favourite is: http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2008/02/26/sand_wont_save_you_this_time.php http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2008/02/26/sand_wont_sa... 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.