Handling and Use of Air-Sensitive Materials
For a general overview of handling air- and moisture-sensitive compounds (by far the most common things to worry about), I strongly recommend reading the Sigma-Aldrich Technical Bulletin AL-134 (Handling and Storage of Air-Sensitive Reagents). This short reference describes basics of using syringes and purge gases to transfer liquids without allowing contact with atmospheric water and oxygen.
These chapters from Shriver and Drezdzon’s 1986 book “The manipulation of air-sensitive compounds” deal in depth with handling and use of air-sensitive reagents. They have many helpful hints and tips.
Glove bags (SpilFyter(tm) brand) can be purchased from OSU ChemStores, ask for stock #MKB060. These bags are disposable, but can be reused several times if you’re careful. Note that the polyethylene is not thick enough to completely exclude water and oxygen from the outside. This can be combated by wearing nitrile or latex gloves inside the glove-bag sleeves (keeps sweat from contacting the polyethylene), continually flushing with dry nitrogen or argon, and keeping a large open Petri dish of activated silica gel or molecular sieves in the bag to absorb water as it enters.
