i actually thought he was going to put it in a normal microwave

I gotta say, this was one of the best Periodic Videos episodes I've seen. It was really good to have the process explained clearly at the molecular level rather than just being given a vague overview of the names of the reactants/products/processes. Great video!

I'm a molecular biologist working late at Well Cornell Medical College in NYC. I'm waiting for an incubation to finish and I totally looove watching these videos. I can't get enough of them!!!

cant help but think this would be funnier if the topic was LSD "today we're going to do LSD" "james? you wanna do some LSD?"

When I made aspirn in my secondary school as part of my AS-level applied science I made a 98.7% pure sample. It was a very proud moment for me; especially considering oher people got only around 75%.

"and one for good luck" And every chemist in the room dove for cover

Aspirin was the first organic molecule I made too, the first molecule I officially made where I knew sort of what I was doing was Copper Sulphate.

I remember making aspirin in my college chemistry lab. We didn't have fancy microwaves, but it was still very cool. I'm loving these molecule videos.

Really interesting and enjoyed it until he started scratching the inside of the glass and the noise made my teeth want to run out of my mouth...

Lol at the aspirin advertisement. "The Boss! The Bills! The Pet! The Bees!"

I love these videos. How stuff works is the most interesting part of anything.

Me and my class once went to Lübeck (Germany) to the "Lola" so that we can make some acetylsalicylic acid ourselves. We then had quite some fun when the chemistry-students have tested the different samples for their chemical purity. the other groups samples were about 98-99,5% pure while I was surprised as I heard mine was at 99,99%. That was quite exciting, but I wouldn't recommend ingesting stuff that some pupils made in a lab by themselves...

That was amazingly cool in both a practical and historical sense.

That belongs in a museum!

I can tell the professor is totally enjoying his lab work. It's always fun to watch skillful people.

How interesting! Thank you. I remember, as a child, examining the Bayer symbol stamped into aspirin in the 1950s. Back when there was no coating on pills to help them get down. I never thought about how that supply line would have been pulled during the war. I would assume the USA did the same, but I was born in 1951. It's also so fascinating when someone first works out how to 'mimic' natural substances.

argh that sound

Very informative. This answered a few questions I had about aspirin. Thanks a bunch guys!

Very interesting :) Loved this, interesting to hear about the history of Aspirin

I'm a pharmacy student , and i would love if u guys make more drug videos :)

I'm going to make some Aspirin in my 4th year of high school. This gives me a good idea on what to look forward to!

I am interested in the chemical changes that could have happened to that aspirin over time, I wonder if that 100+ year old sample is still even slightly viable.

I'm doing this experiment today in organic chem. This video should help a lot haha Thanks Brady and Organic Chemist who i do not know the name of!

I'm not a chemist nor do I have any real knowledge of chemistry, but I have seen a few of your vids. This one interested me particularly as I have always found aspirin to be the most effective drug for sinus pressure headaches. I presume this is because of its anti-inflammatory effects. Mostly just glad that someone came up with this drug! Very informative video.

YES! I love that sound! replay it over and over!!! 7:15 WOOOOO!!

would the sample he made be safe to ingest. If not, what specifically is dangerous in the compound he just made?

I'm no chemist, but I found this highly interesting. Well presented and clear. Thanks.

hehe, as a lab experience I did Aspirin too a few years back. nice video ^^

Ahh yes, love to see a good organic synthesis

One of your best videos so far. Really find the pharmacology based videos fasinating. Trying to get onto a pharmacology course in Aberdeen and these videos are great for what I can expect to learn and just generally interesting! Cheers

:D it's impossible to get tired of them!

Cool, first molecule i ever made as well. It's awesome!

anyone having an issue with ads, get ad blocker plus and shut the hell up. this channels awesome.

I love your videos!

The microwave had an aspirin setting? LOL Wonder if it also has a popcorn setting.

I really enjoyed this episode. I like watching chemistry in action.

Nice video. I didn't know Aspirin was this easy to make, nor did I know how it works.

wow, I can understand you much better, and you are much more detailed and informative! thx

I like this videos. This channel is a real gem. There is so much crap in KZfaq. I feel like I should try to produce a home make aspirin here ;)

Really amazing video!

Great video! Can't help to laugh when I see him in the Lab. He just reminds me about pharmacist (like myself) are only pseudo-chemist and not "real" chemist. "Who's gonna help me make Aspirin?" and "That's clean" made me laugh so much!

Very intersting. I had little clue about the history of aspirin aside from it being a very significant discovery.

When I first started doing labwork, I was surprised how much a physical thing like nucleation sites can aid a chemical reaction, but it truly does!

Fascinating!

Fascinating! When will you be starting your tutorials? I'd love to go back to the basics of chem with you guys, you are very entertaining as well as educational. Well done!

looks suspiciously like an indole ring. trippy

@FatalMissEllen: It's always wise to take precautions, and yes, I would recomend using a fume hood for phosphoric acid. We just did it on the bench to make filming easier. All chemicals are potentially dangerous, especially when mistreated.....even water!

@afdhalatifftan92 He explains it at 7:38.

I did this reaction a few weeks ago in organic chem :)

We made Aspirin in school recently! :D Still gotta write a lab report on it... -.-

Exceedingly good aspirin.

The enzyme (Actually the *group* of enzymes) that is inhibited by ASA is called Cyclooxygenase(s). And they are present in a large fraction of cells, doing various things mostly associated with inflammation and blood clotting. The ones that do different things are the ones that cause side effects. Such as stomach problems due to faulty regulation of acid content. At least that's what I recall from last year, feel free to tell me if I got anything wrong.

love this vid

i love this channel keep it up! the way u guys approach to the viewer is refreshing now science is less boring speaking of science id like to make a research on how to manufacture/fabricate a specimen made by natural fiber by using the nano technology..would so much appreciate if any of u guys can point me to the right direction cause im very much a green in the nano tech

@afdhalatifftan92 It makes a tiny scratch mark on the side of the flask, it looks like a scraggly groove. The groove is a "site" for crystallisation; the mechanisms are complex and still not completely understood, but it kinda works like this: any species in a saturate solution wants to precipitate (through crystallisation), but "doesn't know how to". So, the groove "reminds" it how to crystallize - and reminding makes things go a lot faster than if you were to just wait!

I kinda wanted to see someone eat that aspirin powder...

@dajwilkinson It is a catalyst so it just helps the speed of the reaction, the Phosphoric acid will "return"

@TheWejdin yea, love synthesis videos. I would like also see how synthesised penicillin is produced and if they still use the organism itself or its purely artificial. a video on reconstituting AU from Aqua Regis would be cool too.

Thanks ^_^ I didn't know it had any specific interleukin inhibitory effects.

@EA78751: The crystalisation process begins with very small, invisible to the eye, crystals.These are formed form the aggregation of the solvated molecules, which often require a surface for the nucleation process, in order to beome a visible solid. This process accelerates and the crystals become visible as more molecules bind to the core nucleation point i,e, the small crystals become bigger, and therefore visible! If you can't see things it doesn't mean they are not there (just like air).

LOL it could be worse then you could imagine. In my school, the 4 undergrad organic chem labs, took up most of the basement of the building. Each held 30 students, and all 4 labs would be working constantly. There were times when the sounds of ~120 students scratching their flasks would fill the entire floor with *scratch scratch scratch* It is in fact one of the most evil sounds ever produced.

He did not mention that aspirin is used in the treatment of heart attacks, due the fact that it inhibit the aggregations of platelets! I must say that's a nice video!

good idea!

@meanmoegel it scratches away glass microparticles, which act as seed crystals to speed up recrystallisation. :)

Nitrobenzene can be reduced with Iron and HCl (or tin/HCl?). One may fancy bromination to prepare a Grignard reagent. Not sure if the NO2 group is ortho or meta directing... Grignard reagents are quite versatile, I believe.

you create small scratches on the glassware that provide a place for the crystals to adhere... and upon scratching you remove the crystals that formed and allow new ones to grow

that's very interesting!

In chemistry we have seen that the acetate group that you put on there is needed for an other reason. It is because if you chew on the bark of the willow for the salicylic acid, then there are side effects like puking and haemorrhage of the stomach. And that's why he made it for his sick father because he had tot take salicylic acid every day and had pain because of it. And with aspirine you don't have that problem.

Cannabinoid Receptors (CB1 & CB2) are in our skin, brain, immune system, intestines, liver, spine, ribs, white blood cells, & bone marrow (STEM CELLS) etc. Without the 600 Million+ year old Endocannabinoid System*, Stem Cells would act like a car without a driver. *Dr. Guy, Executive Chairman of GW Pharmaceuticals, London, UK

My guess would be due to the acetyl group attached to it. Vinegar is acetic acid so the bitter smell would be down the acetyl part.

wtf the scratching part is like a miracle

HOLY SHIT!!! THEY HAVE MOLECULE TOYS LIKE THAT!!!! I WANT SOME NAOW!!

@afdhalatifftan92 He says the scratches in the glass "give the crystals something to grab onto." A similar example involves heating pure water in a new glass beaker in a microwave, even though the water is very hot it won't boil until you add an impurity or scratch the inside of the glass, in which case it will start boiling very rapidly. Also, scratches in a glass will help bubbles form in a carbonated beverage.

Hi, love your chan! Got a few question. When gurheart made it, did he know what he was making or did he only find it good after making the compound. And if he knew how did he know that combing those would create that substance. thanks Morlan

@gamesbok it was because he took normal salicylic acid that he had that stomach problem. It irritates the gastric mucosa and leads to peptic ulcer. And I think salicylic acid is also a blood thinner like aspirin so it was very dangerous to take it for a long period of time.

this truly is becoming a world for nerds, and I LOVE IT!

This video is more interesting than learning how aspirin and COX inhibitors work in pharmacy school

@afdhalatifftan92 I am no chemist, but I have seen something similar in Silicon Waffer production. When he scratches the inside of the glass he creates new groves in the glass which the substance will find it easier to get hold of and try and "mimic" the structure off. This will exponentially speed up the process as more crystals are being created. However I do not understand nor know if this only can happen with for example test tubes that consist off Borosilicate glass. Great work Brady! =)

I enjoy how one of the causes of the man's headache in the old ad shown at the beginning was bees.

@MrMZaccone Wow, thanks!

The funny thing with Asperin was that the management at Bayer thought that Heroin was the better painkiller ( Heroin was invented by Bayer). In terms of killing pain Heroin is much better then Asperin but the side effects with heroin are worse.

it's ok as long as you and others know.

Don't fret, maybe your aspirin will look better after you have kept it around a while!

@afdhalatifftan92 the scratches allow the crystals to have a grip and have a place to grow from.

@SeptaValent -“In terms of getting better medicines the Endocannabinoid System has a lot to offer. The range of Cannabis-related medicines is currently limited, but by increasing our knowledge in this area we can increase our stock.” Dr. Alexander, University of Nottingham, UK -Medical Marijuana School Location: University of Colorado, Colorado Springs Course: Endocannabinoids and Medical Marijuana Biology 408 Teacher: Dr. Melamede, Ph.D. in Molecular Biology & Biochemistry

That's the acetic anhydride, in Dutch it's named after vinegar, which explains the smell.

@afdhalatifftan92 It gives the crystals a starting point which they can form around, dust etc. will also work.

Me too. Much less side effects for one thing.

nice!

You should have done a recrystallization would have reduced your sample size but made the product as good as the original!

@afdhalatifftan92 if i did not remember wrongly, small fragments of glass will be scratched off and the aspirin would have a surface to crystallize on instead of starting the core with the aspirin slowly bonding together

@afdhalatifftan92 like a catalyst provides a surface, i think creating a rough patch of glass would do the same.

@30LayersOfKevlar yea seen that one. lol just to think its just a vitamin salt too :)

@afdhalatifftan92 Because by scratching the side of the glass it seeds (produces) tiny tiny pieces of glass and also makes impurities in the glass flask in which the solution can form around the tiny glass acting as a nucleating agent thus causing the crystallisation process to occur at a faster pace, also it helps yield better results.

This is so cool! If you were to make that pure aspirin into a pill (the averages size of an aspirin tablet), how many milligrams would it contain?

@Rib640 Perhaps you could form phenol from benzene by nitrating it and then hydrogenating the nitrobenzene, then turning the aniline into phenol. Another possibility might be to make chlorobenzene with cl2 and a lewis acid (fecl3?) then hydrolyze that. Once you have phenol, it's pretty easy to use something like a Riemer-Tiemann reaction to formylate it - giving salicylaldehyde, which is easily oxidizable to salicylic acid. After that you just acetylate it to get acetylsalicylic acid...

Aspirin always worked well against my headaches. My dad recommended to take aspirin against the flu, worked well either. But! After a couple of years I noticed that whenever I fought the flu with aspirin Id tend to get a bronchitis. And my dad actually gets bronchitis quite regularly. So I stopped taking aspirin altogether and what do you know: never got a bronchitis ever since.

What kind of yield you got from the synthesis?

I actually learned about it while working on my degree in biomedical science. People were remarkably silent about the actual method of operation for paracetamol however, one of our professors even going as far as saying that it's not fully known. Did you guys learn anything about that particular drug that we didn't? =p

I remember reading about the process of making cheap vs. name brand aspirin [and] isomers were introduced at this point. the book said that one was the active form and the other was inactive and actually came with side effects. . . how would you cause the reaction to shift towards one vs. the other?