Making a liquid that attracts biting insects (1-octen-3-ol) 

"It's naturally presented in both human sweat and breath" - so to avoid mosquito bites I just need to stop sweating and breathing. Got it

I love how real you are--you always admit when you made a mistake, even if it's not visible or if it was a dumb mistake. I love scientists who make science seem more human, because at the end of the day, science is one of the most human things there is.

Replace someone's bottle of bug repellent with this. ??? PROFIT

Forget "Off!"...you've invented "On!"

You should've made a little cup where insects can go in but not out, put a little 1-octen-3-ol in the bottom and left it outside for a day and then see if it's an effective attractant.

Garden: _doesn't get infested with biting insects_ Nile: My disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined

Nile Red- the only Guy/Chemist on youtube who really pulls long-time project through. Respect for that dude! XD

Why do you feel disappointed man coz it's cheap to get online? . You made it yourself man, that's a big achievement in my honest opinion. Great video

"This bug spray doesn't work. It's not attracting any bugs." -- Morticia Addams At long last her wish has been answered!

The fact that Nile described an Aldol condensation without saying a damn thing about “nucleophilicitiy, partial positive, nucleophilic attack on the carbonyl, pka,” and “alpha carbon chemistry” is beautiful. That’s how you know someone is brilliant.

i live in Africa, think I'll sit this one out gents.

that moving shot was very skillful

You are amazing and though I hated chemistry in high school, you remind me why people might actually like this crazy stuff. Keep up the great work!

I honestly didn't think this video would come. A lot of videos saying "I'm making this chemical for my production of 1-octen-3-ol." But I didn't know if it would ever happen.

proud of you. been working towards this for months

It's really nice that you show and explain the reaction mechanisms. It really adds to the understanding about what's happening, rather than just "I pour some of this in, then this happens"

Damn, could've just extracted this from me. I can't seem to catch a break when it comes to bug bites

3:10 “ooh” I think “I wonder what the mechanism for that is, I bet it would be cool.” Spend ages googling *”Now I’m going to break it down mechanistically”* “Ah for fuck’s sake”

I just took ochem 2 last semester and its so gratifying understanding the mechanism of the aldol reaction.

I have been anticipating this video for a long time! Thanks for pulling though!

And once again you showed me that organic chemistry is way above my current state of knowledge

Props to nilered's stirrer, it has been carrying this channel on its back

Hi, and thanks for all the vids. I hated chem when I took it 40 years ago, but I love watching your projects (and seriously lusting after your lab glass). This particular bid was timely because I just deployed a 40W UV lamp zapper about 4 weeks ago in an area saturated by hurricane Harvey floods. The lamp on its own is moderately effective. I looked at adding an octenol cartridge, but these are just ridiculously expensive. My further looking at some articles also made me skeptical than octenol without a sustained release CO2 source would provide much incremental effectiveness. Based on my reading and local observation of insect behavior, I've just deployed a decidely low tech next step. It's a 500ml bottle 80% filled with a 1:1:1 mixture by vol of sugar, scrap sweet wine, and water with a tablespoon each of cornstarch, flour, and dry baking yeast. The bottle is placed adjacent to the zapper. If this seems to increase the zapper rate, I might experiment next with adding octenol to the mixture. My thought process is as follows: while female mosquitoes are attracted to the CO2/heat/octenol produced by mammals, both male and female mosquitoes are attracted to sweet liquids (nectars) for nutrition. While only the females bite, they only bite after they've bred. Hopefully attracting the breeding pair near the light will reduce the actual egg carrying female population. Secondly, fermenting yeast seems to be a very strong attractant for many flying insects. Third, it's just a hunch but I suspect octenol isn't the only alcohol compound that attracts. I've observed flying insects attracted to glasses of wine, wine that has degraded to vinegar, and to bottled fruit vinegars. I'll try to post my results here. Meanwhile, if anyone finds a source for sub cosmetic/food grade octenol, please share. I can get a 40kg barrel from China, but a couple of liters ought to last my lifetime.

I actually had to draw the whole Aldol condensation mechanism on my organic II test yesterday. interesting to see it in use.

Could you mix this with candles wax?

You channel is wayyyy underrated!

Boy,... This is EXACTLY what I needed.

I love how he always explains it like we are going to do it. There isn’t really another way to properly explain it WITHOUT sounding like a tutorial, but I still find it amusing

The MPV reduction does not achieve incredible yields, but try to mantain all the reactants solved in the solution (you can try to continously adding the aluminium isopropoxide "solved") to the reaction mixture. If you maintain the products in the solution, you just have to displace the equilibria by distilling the corresponding ketone. You can also try with sec-butanol as a solvent, its higher boiling point may favor the reaction. The recovery of aluminium can be also made by using a saturated aqueous solution of oxalic acid, where aluminium oxalate/hydroxyde precipitates out during the phase separation. KEEP GOING!

Currently I'm going into grade 12 and hoping to follow through with chemical engineering afterwards (some thanks to you for extra inspiration there!) I assume these videos are more of a chemists hobby but what do you do for work? Keep up the awesome videos I'm sure you've inspired more kids like me!

The way you said “incredible yield” always makes me laugh

16:43 😂THE STIRRER IS POSSESSED 😱😱

Nile: *bringing up all kinds of chemicals that I know nothing about* Me, who's just here to see the potion maker do miracle stuff: I like your funny words magic man

This is the stuff that comes with bug zappers, there are little fabric tabs that come with it, soaked in octenol, that supposedly attract bugs to the zapper.

Loved the video. You saying "the remaining XY is washed with a little bit of Toluene" is as soothing as Bob Ross saying "now we'll put a few happy little trees there"

I like that you put the reactions on cards, so I know when to fast forward

Save your Patreon money for a rotavap!

@NileRed, insects can be attracted or repelled by semiochemicals based on its potency / concentration. Good luck on your continued experiments. It was a pleasure to watch your video. Thank you.

That moment when you look for the carbon in the Aldol Reaction and suddenly you remember.... but i had a few beers after work in my defense!

Are you a teacher/ professor? Your passion bleeds into your teaching methods and it’s very engaging. I watch these for joy, and I wasn’t good at science at all. It’s the passion that keeps me watching.

I've been marathon watching your videos ever since you replied to my comment today lol. Thanks for replying by the way

I appreciate so much that you took the time to explain the mechanism of the reaction honestly, thank you, is cool to understand what's going on

He mentioned making the metal smelling 1 octen 3 one in this video, about 3 years before he made a video on it. That’s kinda wild.

OMG I have been waiting on the edge of my seat for this video!!! Im so happy !!!!

“In my next video, we will make a chemical that attracts air horns and people who still aren’t over firefly being canceled.”

Thanks for inspiring me to review my organic chemistry, I'm taking up chemical engineering and I've already forgotten everything just 2 terms after my last organic chemistry subject. I seriously had to pick up my book and re-read about aldol reaction mechanisms. The alpha-carbon of one ketone attaches itself to the carbonyl group of the other carbon in basic conditions

Wow that smell of metal on my fingers... That is really interesting. Talk more about that soon. :D

best camera sweep to show a setup I've ever seen. and sloppily much product. lol . love the humor

I mean if its safe next to a current, slap that stuff on a bug zapper 😂

Mercury distillation all with glassware would be cool, I have on seen it done with metal retorts.

What were the reasons that 1-octen-3-ol was believed to be an attractant of biting insects before the research showed that there was no major difference between traps baited with it and traps not baited with it?

It's channels like these that made me enjoy chemistry and physics in school. Keep it up 👍

I want to spread a ton of this in my brothers yard when he throws a party

No matter what!! nile never gives up on a project....he works through it and gets results whether it's a fail or success he learns from it and also makes us learn tooo....kudos💕🙌🏻🙌🏻

Hey Red, I got an idea for a video I'd enjoy seeing. I recently read that _n-halosaccharins_ can act as convenient substitutes for n-halosuccinimdes in some reactions. From what I've read I think they could potentially be quite useful to us hobbyists due to their versatility, ease of preparation and favourable safety profile. I'd love seeing you try to replace N(X)S with the corresponding halosaccarin in some halogenation reaction.

One of the most skillful moving shots I've ever seen.

This would be perfect to wipe on my enemies clothes during the summer.

i love how he allways says about following by a very exact number

Don't you think that using column chromatography would be better to fractionate reaction mixtures than vacuum distillation? Btw nice channel, a lot of chemistry knowledge is coming from your videos 😉

This would be really good to use as bait for a bug zapper or large scale outdoor trap for mosquitoes. Could really cut down on bugs around the house

Real-life Senku. Great job man.

I wish I showed up to chemistry so I could know what he's talking about. Still interesting tho

Thanks God!!! Finally the most expected video! What an amazing and loooong work-out! MANY CONGRATS

whats your education​ background? bsc, mSc?

At last!!! I have been waiting for it!

I'm a moron 😅 but I still enjoy watching and trying to understand the reactions taking place.

At 18:38 This answered that question I always had about the smell you get when touching metal.

5:15 your intermediate is a beta-hydroxyketone in the diagram, but you said it's an aldehyde, or am I missing something?

finally. been waiting forever for this!

STOPCOCK

I think this was mentioned in a later video but the dehydration step in aldol condensation follows an E1cb mechanism, which means that after the acidic proton is deprotonated on the beta-hydroxy ketone, the negative charge again moves to the oxygen of the ketone, then reforms the carbonyl and the double bond by pushing of a hydroxide. You can probably think of it like a reverse 1,4-conjugated addition.

for around $80, I found 1000 grams of 2-heptanone on sigma aldrich. It was 98% pure

Your videos always help me fall asleep. I adore your voice and the interesting content behind it. Be safe 💜

1:05 (anhydrous)

I usually hardly understand these videos, but this one was exceptionally beyond what I know

"To show the whole apparatus, I used a very skillful moving shot." k

Octinol without chemicals? Rose Petals - Add them to the Octinol Bay on the Bug Zapper, maybe a few petals around it. Free.... if you have a rose bush. Octinol tabs cost anywhere from $6 - $30/tab. Each tab lasts 30 days. Octinol or Rose Petals attracts the bugs to the zapper. Carbon Dioxide can be made using a fish tank pump. Sweat can be produced with a plastic cup and a trip to the sauna.

In highschool they teached us how to inject poison into nuts to kill squirls

I have no clue what he's saying nor understand it but I like listening to him talk about science XD

That adapter is so clever!! Good video. :)

“Aye yo chuck us the mosquito repellent” “Yeah… sure”

The ONLY person I've ever heard pronounce toluene correctly. My chem profs didn't even bother doing that

Just what I was looking for. There are entirely not enough biting insects around for my taste. Great recipe, thank you.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching the whole process (precursor videos too). Feel a bit sorry for you and want to give you a big hug,. Even if you didn't attract any bugs in the end, it was all worth while because of the great videos. :)

Didn’t know my mouth was a little chem lab lol

Congrats. Been waiting for this.

For checking for acetone, you could have used sodium nitroprusside if you had some lying around. If present, deep blue colour is observed.

Very interesting. Keep em posted buddy

I don't know what this guy is talking about but I like it

Everyone else in the chat: ⚡️🧠⚡️me: POTIONS

These OG videos are way better than shorts. I have no idea what he is talking about. Im sure these videos benefit people studying, i just watch them because science is amazing. I feel like you could make some kick arse vodka. Let me know when nile red vodka is available. Id buy it!

Imagine concentrating this and putting in ur friends sunscreen or soap

Step 1: cover a piece of c4 with bug attractor and meat Step 2: wait for all biting bugs in a 5 km radius to form a giant pile over the c4 Step 3: detonate the c4 remotely Step 4: enjoy the outdoors without getting Lyme disease, malaria, and/or West Nile virus!

Man I’m so grateful he has a camera man now.its a total different show with the camera man

12:41, and what a skillful moving shot it twas...

May I recommend a series for your channel? How about basic Organic Chemistry, and General chemistry reactions? I always have trouble with new reactions in my university labs. Some of your videos like the extraction of caffeine were greatly helpful to prepare for the labs we did in class. Thank you so much for the great content, I'm always looking forward to your new videos.

*Also for fruit flys you can use apple cider vinegar & dawn dish soap in a cup, it attracts the small flys & kills them*

Hey nile red would you consider after doing caffeine synthesis converting the caffine to chocolate molecule. it would be good to respond (:

the videos this guy make is the only thing I enjoy watching even if I can't understand it

Me at 2 am: I don’t do Science but this is cool…… YUP I LIKE THIS IT COOOOOOOOOOL