Making Phosphorus Pentasulfide and Lawesson’s Reagent: Useful (And Stinky) Thionating Agents

Duration: 5:53

In the past, I made thioacetone by bubbling highly toxic hydrogen sulfide through acetone with an acid catalyst. But what if there was a less deadly alternative? In this video, I'll be making two chemicals (phosphorus pentasulfide and Lawesson's reagent) that are frequently used as thiating (or thionating) agents...in other words, they swap the oxygen atoms on other molecules with sulfur! Want to support LabCoatz? Sure you do! Feel free to join my Patreon here: 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 chemicals to my channel! If you ever need specialty reagents like anisole or red phosphorus, be sure to check out his eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/backyardscience2000 WARNING: some of the chemicals made/used in this video are hazardous and potentially illegal in certain countries. The hydrogen sulfide generated during the synthesis of Lawesson's reagent is extremely poisonous, phosphorus and sulfur are flammable, and the thiating agents themselves are toxic. To my knowledge, I performed these experiments in accordance with the law. 0:00 Intro 0:42 Ingredients 0:56 Making phosphorus pentasulfide 2:24 Making Lawesson's reagent 2:52 Reaction pathway and the H2S sacrifice 3:17 Washing and recrystallizing 4:29 Final product (and it's smell) 5:07 Upcoming projects and conclusion