A Soapy Situation

Life has funny ways of surprising you. While analyzing my latest batch of a functionalized sugar, I noticed that the NMR sample foamed upon sonication. Fearing surfactant (read: soap) contamination, I found myself back at the instrument facility with a D2O sample of...Contrex, the orange-labeled glassware rinse I've used ever since I started working at the bench.

Source: Decon Labs

Never thought I'd be taking a soapy NMR...

Unsurprisingly, Decon Labs doesn't list its trade-secret formulation on the MSDS or their website. However, this doesn't seem like something I'm going to investigate a la What's In Lemi-Shine? Seems to be to be a typical mono-aromatic tetraalkylammonium salt, probably containing some KOH, phosphate, or bicarb for good measure.

Best part? It's not a contaminant in my material. On to the next project!

Meanwhile, Elsewhere...

I've been seeing other blogs behind my blog's back. Please don't tell anyone!

First up, do you like art? Like Chemistry? Hop on over to Nat. Chem's Blogroll ($).

Second, I talk about LeBron James promoting soluble polymer breath strips at Chemistry Blog.

Thirdly, check out the latest on the BMS-Inhibitex HCV drug, over at The Haystack.

Note: Back in 1949, we didn't have names or properties for anything beyond element 96!
(We've since added almost 20 more.)
Source: Life Magazine | Lots of Chemists on Twitter