Activity No.

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Selecting and Handling Reagents and Other Chemicals

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the activity, the students should be able to:

1. Differentiate different types of reagents;
2. Identify reagents suitable for a specific analysis; and
3. Discuss how to handle chemicals properly.
Laboratory analysis requires chemicals of specified grades. This is crucial in order to avoid
errors that can arise due to contamination from reagents themselves. The purity of reagents
affects the quality of results or data obtained from an analysis. It is, therefore, important
that the quality of a reagent be consistent with its intended use.

Classifying Chemicals:
Chemicals can be classified based on their purity:

1. ACS grade reagents meet or exceed purity standards set by the American Chemical Society (ACS).
They are acceptable for food, drug, or medicinal use and can be used for ACS applications or for
general procedures that require stringent quality specifications and a purity of ≥95%.

Figure 1.ACS-grade reagent (google.com)

2. Reagent Grade chemicals conform to the minimum standards set forth by the Reagent Chemical
Committee of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and are used whenever possible in analytical
work. Some suppliers label their products with the maximum limits of impurity allowed by the ACS
specifications while others print actual concentrations for the various impurities. They are described
as generally equal to ACS grade (≥95%) and is acceptable for food, drug, or medicinal use and is
suitable for use in many laboratory and analytical applications.

3. Primary-Standard Grade reagents have been carefully analyzed by the supplier, and the results are
printed on the container label. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an
excellent source for primary standards. This agency also prepares and sells reference standards, which
are complex substances that have been exhaustively analyzed. These chemicals are specially
manufactured analytical reagent of exceptional purity for standardizing solutions and preparing
reference standards.
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Fig.2. Primary-standard grade reagents (www. Google.com)

4. USP grade meets or exceeds requirements of the United States Pharmacopeia (USP). This grade is
acceptable for food, drug, or medicinal use. It is also used for most laboratory purposes, but the USP
being followed should always be reviewed prior to analysis to ensure the grade is appropriate for that
methodology.

5. NF grade meets or exceeds requirements of the National Formulary (NF). The USP and the NF (USP–
NF) jointly publish a book of public pharmacopeial standards for chemical and biological drug
substances, dosage forms, compounded preparations, excipients, medical devices, and dietary
supplements. The listings here should be reviewed to determine which would be considered
equivalent grades.

6. Laboratory grade is the most popular grade for use in educational applications, but its exact levels
of impurities are unknown. While excellent for teaching and training, it is not pure enough to be
offered for food, drug, or medicinal use of any kind.

7. Purified grade, also called pure or practical grade, meets no official standard; it is not pure enough
to be offered for food, drug, or medicinal use of any kind.

8. Technical grade is used for commercial and industrial purposes; however, like many others, it is not
pure enough to be offered for food, drug, or medicinal use of any kind. These chemicals are suitable
for non-critical task such as rinsing, dissolving, etc.

9. Synthesis grade chemicals are for organic synthesis and preparative tasks.

10. Special-Purpose Reagent Chemicals have been prepared for a specific application. Included
among these are solvents for spectrophotometry, high-performance liquid chromatography, nuclear
magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and other special appliactions. Information pertinent to the
intended use is supplied with these reagents. Data provided with a spectrophotometric solvent, for
example, might include its absorbance at selected wavelengths and its ultraviolet cutoff wavelength.
Below are some examples:

HPLC grade – solvents meet strict UV absorbance specifications and are filtered for removal of sub
micron suspended solids. HPLC grade products meet ACS requirements suitable for use in HPLC
applications

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 Spectroscopy grade – includes solvents of high purity, low residue on boiling and having absorption
blank in wavelength region of interest. HPLC/spectroscopy grade for common use in HPLC and
spectroscopic applications. Spectroscopy grade salts alkali metal salts having transparency in IR region
such as KBr, NaCl, CsI, etc. This also includes reagents for nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Costs of reagents increases with its purity. Thus specialized and high purity reagents
such as primary standard grade and NMR grade are more expensive than their ACS grade
counterparts. With different and inequivalent types of chemical purity grades, it is crucial to
understand how they can impact products. Using a lower-purity grade than a product’s
intended use requires could be a costly mistake. Similarly, using a higher-purity grade when
not required could result in unnecessary costs e.g using primary standard grade solvents in
preparing reagents for qualitative work.

Rules for Handling Reagents and Solutions

The following rules must be observed to prevent the accidental contamination of reagents
and solutions:
1. Select the best grade of chemical available for analytical work. Whenever possible,
pick the smallest bottle that is sufficient to do the job.
2. Replace the top of every container immediately after removing reagent. Do not rely
on someone else to do so.
3. Hold the stoppers of reagent bottles between your fingers. Never set a stopper on a
desk top. If needed to be set on a table, place the stopper upside down
4. Unless specifically directed otherwise, never return any excess reagent to a bottle. The
money saved by returning excesses is seldom worth the risk of contaminating the
entire bottle.
5. Unless directed otherwise, never insert spatulas, spoons, or knives into a bottle that
contains a solid chemical. Instead, shake the capped bottle vigorously or tap it gently
against a wooden table to break up an encrustation. Then pour out the desired
quantity. These measures are occasionally ineffective, and in such cases a clean
porcelain spoon should be used.
6. Keep the reagent shelf and the laboratory balance clean and neat. Clean up any spills
immediately.
7. Follow local regulations concerning the disposal of surplus reagents and solutions.

References:
1. Skoog, D.A.; West, D.M; Holler, F.J.; Crouch S.R. 2013. Fundamentals of Analytical Chemistry, 9th
ed. Brooks/COLE Cengage Learning, USA.
2. https://www.labmanager.com/business-management/the-seven-most-commongrades-for-chemicals
and-reagents-2655

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 Activity No.1
Selecting and Handling Reagents and Other Chemicals

Activity Sheet

Name: ___Darren B. Absuelo________Date: ____2/9/2022_________________

A. Identify the most appropriate class (based on purity) of chemical/reagent that will be used in the
following:
1. The required mobile phase for the analysis caffeine in soft drinks in high performance liquid
chromatography are methanol and water. What class of methanol and water must be used?
HPLC
2. In the analysis in #1, a caffeine standard must be used in quantifying the caffeine levels. What class
of caffeine should be used? ACS
3. What class of acid should be used in standardizing a prepared sodium hydroxide solution in
volumetric titrations? Primary standard potassium hydrogen phthalate
4. A purifying agent is required in sugar industry to clarify extracted cane juices. What class of purifying
agent must be used? Primary-Standard Grade
5. One of the raw materials for the production of herbal medicine power is ethanol. What class of ethanol
should be used for extraction of active ingredients from the plants? Aqueous and hydroalcohol
(70 or 50 percent ethanol)
6. Ethanol used in disinfection of laboratory floors and tables. 70% ethanol

B. Assume a laboratory setting and make a video with you demonstrating and describing the proper
technique of transferring a solid chemical. (10 points)
a. Introduce yourself by stating your name and section.
b. Transfer a solid chemical (you may use salt/sugar) from one container (assume medicine bottle as
reagent bottle) to another (assume glass as a beaker).
c. The video should not exceed 2 minutes.
d. Send the video to your instructor via attachment in google classroom (reduce resolution to 360 p) or
you can upload the video in YouTube and comment the link of the video in the classroom.

Prepared by:

Aileen Mae G. Ang

Armenia C. Opog
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