[Jerry]

What do you use to clean the needle from a DIBAL addition?  I'm using relatively lengthy stainless steel needles that are pretty pricey if they become unusable, and after following my adviser's advice, I'm pretty sure he is mistaken on how to go about saving the needle after doing the addition. 

My DIBAL is neat, so it gets pretty reactive pretty quickly after removing it after the addition is complete.  Will something like ethyl acetate work to take care of the residual DIBAL, so that no mini-explosion or fusing of the needle occurs while still allowing it to be properly cleaned? 

[fledarmus]

I keep three erlenmeyers handy; one with whatever solvent the DIBAL is in, and one with isopropanol. After I've added the DIBAL I rinse the needle and syringe by sucking up the solvent three or four times and dumping them into waste, then the IPA. After that I can drop them in the wash bucket without having to worry about it.

[Jerry]

I haven't gotten around to trying this again.  I had to start another set of reactions.  However, I'm guessing this is going to work incredibly better. 

On a side note, after being advised very...strong...for a lack of better words that it was "ridiculous that we did not have any more of these needles...we had many more..." and a little bit about wasting supplies etc... I found where the former senior member had then "stored" (read: hidden in the most ridiculous places).   

Today was a pretty great day.  It's sad how finding a few relatively minor supplies can turn the entire week around.