
Things I Won’t Work With: Dioxygen Difluoride (2010) - CarolineW
http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2010/02/23/things_i_wont_work_with_dioxygen_difluoride
======
CapitalistCartr
This appears to have a three year cycle on HN. Three years ago:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5546450](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5546450)

Six years ago:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1148425](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1148425)

~~~
omginternets
This is the first time I've seen it, and I quite enjoyed it.

~~~
masklinn
If it's the first time you've seen it, I recommend going through the whole
"Things I Won't Work With" archives[0]. They're a great read. "Sand Won't Save
You This Time" is hilarious (from a safe distance) and where Lowe started
hitting his stride.

It will also (rightfully, it's fantastic) make you look for the Ignition! PDF,
because it's not every day you read a paragraph introduced with:

> It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that’s the least of the problem.

then find out said introduction is 100% on the spot.

[0]
[http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/category/thing...](http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/category/things-
i-wont-work-with)

~~~
mstade
This stuff is hilarious! I know only basic high school chemistry, but I'm able
to follow most of this at a sort of "I kind of get it" level – enough to get
some seriously good laughs out of it. Thanks for this, I feel like someone
just told me about the Yellowstone supervolcano for the first time!

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pjc50
Obligatory "you may also like" reccomendation: _Ignition!_ by John D Clark (
[http://www.sciencemadness.org/library/books/ignition.pdf](http://www.sciencemadness.org/library/books/ignition.pdf)
), which is an unofficial history of rocket fuel. A mixture of hard science
and lab-exploding anecdotes.

~~~
HCIdivision17
I really appreciate the link. Currently, Amazon has it available for sale for
$20005.56 new or $2904.00 used (no typos there). Seems like the market-making
bots have botched again...

It's actually kinda hard to find - at least harder than I'd expect for such a
well recommended book. Time to start rummaging through my local book stores :)

~~~
masklinn
Ignition! has been out of print for decades now, it was a short run and close
to self-published (Rutgers University Press isn't exactly mass-market). It's
possible that you'd find it at a bookstore but really doubtful, more likely to
be found rummaging at book fairs or during estate sales.

~~~
Bjartr
And unfortunately if you ask Rutgers University Press about the status of
Copyright on the work, they don't actually know who owns it, or so I read the
last time Ignition! came up in discussion on HN.

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mchahn
I used to work in a semiconductor processing facility many years ago. There
were workers who worked with hydrofluoric acid at benches. That stuff was
nasty. If it got on your skin it would rapidly dissolve your body down to the
bone.

They had their elbows attached to cords. If they jerked their arms back
quickly they would be flooded with water from overhead. There were showers
with pull cords along the wall that would dump a tremendous amount of water
then the cord was pulled.

I assume this ridiculous practice isn't used any more.

~~~
totony
It technically goes through the skin and the gloves which is why it attacks
bone. Water doesn't solve the problem so I am curious as to why their
workspace would be like that, you need a CaCO3 paste if i remember correctly
and then head to hospital.

~~~
mchahn
My memory could easily be wrong. It was 40 years ago. I've told the story so
many times it could have "evolved" over the years. (grin) Maybe something
other than water was dumped. You really have to be careful about technical
details here on HN.

Edit: And maybe water would make a difference before it started eating through
the gloves, hence the elbow trick. The showers might have been for other
situations.

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tobltobs
The part about Hangzhou is interesting.

> But I do note that if you run the structure through SciFinder, it comes out
> with a most unexpected icon that indicates a commercial supplier. > That
> would be the Hangzhou Sage Chemical Company. They offer it in 100g, 500g,
> and 1 kilo amounts, which is interesting, because I don’t think a kilo of
> dioxygen difluoride has ever existed.

~~~
dalke
The lesson is that some companies will offer to sell you something just to get
your order. It doesn't cost much, or anything, to advertise. If you send a
request, they are 1/2way to making a deal. Only then do they need to decide if
they can actually make it, and do so profitably.

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Kristine1975
Has anybody mentioned dimethylmercury yet?

~~~
Bjartr
There are articles on dimethylcadmium[1] and dimethylzinc[2] in the same
series

[1]
[http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2013/05/08/thi...](http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2013/05/08/things_i_wont_work_with_dimethylcadmium)

[2]
[http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2009/10/23/thi...](http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2009/10/23/things_i_wont_work_with_straight_dimethyl_zinc)

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lighttower
ask about the free shipping. hilarious

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mabbo
"The sulfur chemistry of FOOF remains unexplored, so if you feel like whipping
up a batch of Satan’s kimchi, go right ahead."

