Making an Important Precursor from Mothballs

In this video I show how to make naphthalene moth balls into the very useful chemical β-Naphthol or 2-naphthol, which is a very useful precursor that is critical in the manufacture of numerous synthetic dyes.
A slight modification of this process can be used to make 1-naphthol, which is used more often in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, most notably Zoloft.

Given that this is a longer and somewhat more complex video, it is very likely I made a few mistakes along the way. If you find any feel free to let me know!
Note: Procedure was taken from a sciencemadness forum post. I'll try to find the initial post to give proper credit. This one was a little much to rely exclusively on Wikipedia this time.

#chemistry #science #hydrogen #gas #elements #fire #chemical #industury #color

[yt]

Your channel is honestly the first one of all the channels out there that I'm seriously considering supporting on Patreon. The value of your videos is just immense, packed with quality information and exciting visuals. Easily one of the best aspiring chemistry channels there is right now.

[InitHello]

What I enjoy most about this channel is that you explain the chemistry and even sometimes the physics behind the reactions.

[lucazsy]

At 0:36 I thought "mmm, a nice project to make with the pack of moth balls I have". But after seeing the amount of work I decided to leave them untouched. I can't wait to see the next videos, the copper chromite reaction is beautiful.

[dimaminiailo]

One prep of b-naphthol states 70% yield with mp 122 C. The purification includes recryst from weak HCl since such compounds are prone to turning into 'black death' upon any contact with bases. Overall well done, thank you! I like and appreciate the calmness and effort you put into your content

[AppliedCryogenics]

I really enjoy watching this show and have some (somewhat rambling) thoughts... and an analogy: I have an intuitive grasp of cooking food, so given some arbitrary ingredients, I can often make something tasty that is inspired by things I have enjoyed. My wife is not a risk-taker, and she always goes by a predefined recipe, usually with excellent results. Early on, I'd hoped that by watching these great chemistry videos, I would get an intuitive feel for the chemistry that I could extrapolate to various situations as with cooking, but now, I'm not so sure that will ever happen for me. Still, it's great to have been given so many recipes, so thank you for that.

[yussele]

Thank you for the insane amount of work you put in to make these informative pure chemistry videos!

[rosefeltch]

was showing my lab professor [who used to be an organic chemist] some of my homework from another chem teacher relating to making phenol, he explained the thing with the precursors not being acidic enough and it went in one ear and out the other, but now i know for sure

[myristicinman]

Awesome. I appreciate the thoroughness and ambition of your work dude

[andrews.]

Looking forward to the new projects you have coming up. It's a shame to see YouTube effect so many great channels like this one because of strict yet unclear policies and guidelines. Especially when the content is clearly educational. I think its a good move keeping the energetics exclusive to Patreon.

[garethfuller]

Go for nebula! It's a great platform, and I watch a lot of my favorite youtubers on there. One incentive people commonly use is releasing videos early on nebula, another being "nebula only" (though, in this case, it could be "videos for Patreon and/or nebula") videos.

[Samonie]

i'd really love to see an NMR spectrum of your product, seems like this project would be perfect for a simple 60MHz NMR analysis. if you have a couple thousand dollars laying around you should get the NMReady 60-e Benchtop NMR. it'd certainly make you one of the most professional chemistry youtubers having access to his own NMR machine lol.

[imikla]

Cool video! Now I know what I was saving those mothballs for!

[ianwilliams]

+1 for Nebula. I think you’d go down well over there.

[calcifer]

I would definitely watch your videos on Nebula, if that was an option

[bearcatben]

I realized that you do chemistry out of the same type of white bowls I eat out of, I need to step up my game.

[Chaosbar]

If Nebula works for you, that’s a great idea! No Patreon app on Apple TV.

[anotheruser]

Pyridine is the vilest substance I've ever inadvertently smelled.

[isaacthedestroyerofstuped]

9:59 Really? I love the smell of SO2 and SO3!

[fmdj]

Nice, I was precisely wondering how to attach hydroxyl groups to aromatics! Any chance a similar process could be used to add the missing -OH group to benzoic acid in order to convert it to salicylic acid? Or would the benzoic acid just uselessly decarboxylate under these harsh conditions? or would the hydroxyl attach to the wrong place?

[chemistryofquestionablequa]

I have some napthalene mothballs in my chemical storage cabinet. Despite being sealed you can smell it from a couple feet away.