Text 8300, 76 rader
Skriven 2008-06-03 19:17:00 av JOAN MACDIARMID (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av GLEN JAMIESON
Ärende: CO + H2   80530
=======================
 Hi, Glen,

 GJ> coal gas
 JW> The main constituent is methane, the H2 and CO are impurities.

 GJ> Far be it for me to argue with a qualified chemist
 JW> I'm not and I could be wrong.

 GJ> That is why I am happy to argue with you, but not Joan.  (Anyway, she
 GJ> is too nice to argue with.)

 Thank you, dear, but I am willing to be challenged
 because a lot of times people ask me chemical
 questions in areas I never studied at all. The
 definition of "coal gas" is more likely to be known
 by an engineer, I would suspect, at least a chemical
 engineer. My training is more for doing things with
 well-characterized single chemical components, not
 amorphous mixtures. So if someone asks my opinion
 on a chemical question I might just say I don't know
 or I might give my best guess, unless I really do
 know. I rarely see the need to do major research
 into these little questions, that would be work! I
 wouldn't mind going to a reference book in my home
 for it, but I don't keep many at home.

 GJ> These days the gas supplied for domestic use here is natural gas from
 GJ> gas mines, which contains a mixture of hydrocarbons, but not much CO,
 GJ> so would-be suicides find the old oven trick disappointing - unless
 GJ> they then lit a cigarette.  As, like propane, it doesn't have much
 GJ> smell of its own, a small amount of an additional component provides
 GJ> the smell to warn of gas leaks.  Some claim that it is a garlic smell,
 GJ> but it is nothing like any garlic I would cook with.

 It's ethyl mercaptan (CH3CH2SH) which is one component
 of garlic smell. I used that once in a reaction to make
 a potential cancer chemo drug with -SCH2CH3 groups.
 While I was working my reaction up, I filtered off my
 solid product using a vacuum source powered by fast-
 flowing water, which meant the excess ethyl mercaptan
 was drawn into the exit water, and the drains happened
 to have vents to a little pharmacy museum run by the
 wife of the Dean of Pharmacy. She triggered an alarm
 about a possible gas leak. While the Safety guys were
 searching the building for the leak, they happened to
 talk to a Pharmaceutics prof I had done small jobs for
 earlier, and he suggested they talk to me as a chemist.
 When they explained the problem, I had to 'fess up
 that *I* caused the problem, inadvertantly, (red face!)
 and I promised to tell the building maintenance crew
 in advance when I would be using that chemical again.

 GJ> Title: Grilled Shark To Die For
 GJ>
 GJ> 1/2 c  Soy sauce
 GJ> 1/4 c  Catsup
 GJ> 2 tb Lemon juice
 GJ> 2    Cloves garlic, minced
 GJ> 6    Swordfish or salmon steaks
 GJ> 1/2 c  Orange juice
 GJ> 1/4 c  Chopped fresh parsley
 GJ> 1/3 tb Ground pepper
 GJ> 6    Shark steaks, or
 GJ>

 I love shark, and this looks good, but I
 suggest whoever modified an existing recipe was
 sort of careless! The "6 Shark steaks, or" line
 should have been inserted BEFORE the "6 Swordfish
 or salmon steaks" line. Else it looks like some
 sort of mixed fish grillout.

 Joan
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