Thank you Sara for sharing your expertise!
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
On Behalf Of Sara J
Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2021 12:42 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Tetrabutylammonium Fluoride-Nasty, but Not Nasty Like HF?
Afternoon,
The problem with SDS sheets is that there are a lot of variables that go into them and they are not highly regulated. A company's published SDS sheet is based on the software they use to author them, the available database, and any outside
testing the company has done on their product. Product testing done by the company does not have to be shared and isn't always required by TSCA. So if there are two companies that sell the product and one has toxicological data and the other doesn't they may
have different SDSs. I would look at section 11 in the SDS to see if there is published data on the SDS. If there is not PubChem is a good source for published tox data or REACH requires more data for registered chemicals, so look at ECHA's site. Based on
the brief research I did TBAF has a LD50 Dermal of >2000 mg/kg, in comparison HF has an LD50 of <50mg/kg (making it fatal). This is most likely why you are not seeing the HF type warning.
On the other hand calgonate gel is not hazardous to the skin and it may work to neutralize any burns that would be caused by skin exposure to the chemical. So having it on hand may not be the worst idea.
Have a great day,
Sara Johnson, PhD, NRCC-CHO
Chemical Hygiene Manager
UNC
Chapel Hill
Environment, Health & Safety/Risk Management
FYI: I used to author SDSs for a small chemical company, so I have gotten really good at reading and interpreting them.
On Tue, Mar 30, 2021 at 12:58 PM Franco, Jerry <Jerry.Franco**At_Symbol_Here**ttu.edu> wrote:
Good morning,
You might want to compare SDS sheets with Chemwatch SDS. The SDS from Chemwatch says to treat skin contact with calcium gluconate gel. That's a red flag that we need to have calcium gluconate gel handy and signs posted warning people of the hazard. I am new to safety but I feel that this method is helping me catch things like this.
Which safety data sheet should we trust?
Best,
Jerry Franco
TTU Chemistry DSO
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU> On Behalf Of TILAK CHANDRA
Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2021 9:48 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Tetrabutylammonium Fluoride-Nasty, but Not Nasty Like HF?
I will recommend conducting a SciFinder search on the substrate when using TBAF as a reagent for a chemical transformation. There will be a huge difference in reactivity between HF and TBAF with different substrates. Anhydrous TBAF behaves not only as a potent source of nucleophilic fluoride but also as a potent base.
The following recent safety articles can be sources for the students to design the experiments and find suitable safety information when using the TBAF for chemical manipulations.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.chas.0c00008
Lessons Learned?Fluoride Exposure
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.chas.9b00015
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.chas.0c00108
Good luck.
Tilak
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU> on behalf of Margaret Rakas <mrakas**At_Symbol_Here**SMITH.EDU>
Sent: Monday, March 29, 2021 2:32 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Tetrabutylammonium Fluoride-Nasty, but Not Nasty Like HF?
Hi all-
We have a student project for advanced synthesis whose design include tetrabutylammonium fluoride (20-30%) in THF.. The SDS from the vendor, a large, trusted chem/bio supply company, plus checking on PubChem, indicates that while this is a corrosive (especially to eyes) and a health hazard, there is not the warning text that accompanies hydrofluoric acid or even ammonium fluoride-no indication for treatment with calcium gluconate gel.
Now I trust this company's SDS but given it's a fluoride compound, checked what I could and found corroboration of the hazard but no first aid requiring calcium gluconate. Can anyone explain why this material isn't quite as bad as HF or ammonium fluoride? Is it hindrance in penetrating bone from the tetrabutyl group or the low-ish percentage of the tetrabutylammonium fluoride in the solution or ???
thank you all!
Margaret
--
Margaret A. Rakas, Ph.D.
Lab Safety & Compliance Director
Clark Science Center
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