I'm not a chemist, but I love this blog

http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/things_i_wont_work_with/

I don't know jack about chemistry other than it fascinates me. His blog has a section called "Things I Won't Work With" and it is hilarious.

A favorite entry: http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2010/02/23/things_i_wont_work_with_dioxygen_difluoride.php

"The paper goes on to react FOOF with everything else you wouldn't react it with: ammonia ("vigorous", this at 100K), water ice (explosion, natch), chlorine ("violent explosion", so he added it more slowly the second time), red phosphorus (not good), bromine fluoride, chlorine trifluoride (say what?), perchloryl fluoride (!), tetrafluorohydrazine (how on Earth. . .), and on, and on. "

And this one: http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2008/02/26/sand_wont_save_you_this_time.php

"If, however, this coat is melted or scrubbed off, and has no chance to reform, the operator is confronted with the problem of coping with a metal-fluorine fire. For dealing with this situation, I have always recommended a good pair of running shoes.

Ill have to send this to my sister who's college major was chemistry.

I have a degree in Chemistry, I will have to peruse that when I get home.

I don't really understand the chemistry, but lines like "Since the FDA takes a dim view of exploding pharmaceuticals" are not to be missed.

That's been on my daily list for a while now. Admittedly some of them go straight over my head.

As a working chemist, this is going on my daily list.

And don't forget the archives: http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/cat_things_i_wont_work_with.html

You can isolate the stuff, it seems, as long as you handle it properly. It turns out that brutal treatments like, say, touching it with a spatula, or cooling down a vial of it in liquid nitrogen - you know, rough handling - make it detonate violently.

"The subtleties of explosions as a stirring technique are not to be dismissed lightly"