Distilling A Superacid In My Garage: Chlorosulfonic Acid Synthesis and Reactions

Video Description

If you've seen the movie "Alien", you might remember the scene where the scientists discover that the alien has acid for blood (a discovery made evident when a small amount managed to eat through the several levels of the spaceship). In real life, no acid comes close to the corrosiveness of the fictional "molecular acid" found in xenomorph blood...but superacids come close enough, so I decided to make one: chlorosulfonic acid! Want to support LabCoatz? Then feel free to join my Patreon page! It literally costs less that a cup of coffee: https://www.patreon.com/LabCoatz Don't want to pay monthly and just want to be a one-time supporter? Then follow this link to donate: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/labcoatz A special thanks to @BackYardScience2000 for donating the phosphorus pentachloride (and many other chemicals) to my channel! If you ever need specialty reagents, like acetic anhydride or red phosphorus, be sure to check out his eBay store and Mercari store (which shows a lot of listings eBay won't allow, like red phosphorus and iodine): https://www.ebay.com/str/backyardscience2000 https://www.mercari.com/u/242693481/?sv=0 Official Backyard Science 2000 inventory list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rCVAw273OwY7_gYJlgQ2q1RvEElIIN91y0Is0QkdxjI/edit?usp=drivesdk 0:00 Warnings and intro 0:31 So we're making superacid... 0:50 Reagents required 1:39 Setting up 2:12 Distillation 2:46 Reaction with ammonia solution 3:16 Sodium hydroxide reaction 3:42 Permanganyl chloride demo 5:05 Acetone and permanganate with superacid 5:32 Acetone and chlorosulfonic acid 5:51 MAGNESIUM!! 6:26 Tiny sodium reaction 6:40 Outro