[hmx9123]

Enahs,
In most cases, I agree with you that it is to avoid lawsuits.  However, in the case of nitric acid, I would bet that most of it has to do with bomb makers.  This is not the companies denying access--it's the ATF putting you on a watchlist.  Was it lawsuit related, it would be like many other services or even chemicals that you would have to sign a waiver stating you won't misuse it or sue the manufacturer.

[nitric]

I think i found a pretty legitimate company called chemical-supermarket
heres a link:

[url]http://www.chemical-supermarket.com//url]

[dzoys]

nowadays with the internet, any "joe bomber" (as stated) can easily go online and find the right- or worse yet- the wrong bomb recipe with their nitric acid.

they are putting pple in jail for murder with modern evidence- doing google searches on the materials used for the crimes. google has saved every search since they've been on the wire.

back in the day you had to have a clue

[Borek]

google has saved every search since they've been on the wire.

Have you heard about a single case in which this information was shared with any gov agency?

[dzoys]

google has saved every search since they've been on the wire.

Have you heard about a single case in which this information was shared with any gov agency?

well the D.A. office im positive about- a guy went to jail for murdering his wife. he did extensive searches on the materials and methods for the murder on google.com

the documentary i watched concerning this was saying that google will give up this info if there is an investigation- so a warrant would have to be issued. otherwise, the FBI and such can not have access to this data.

in any case- to find out what you purchase, who you call, ss#, DOB, all addresses, and every parking ticket- security laws can be legally broken by contacting choice point
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint

not sure if an idividual can access this data- but the government and businesses do so at will. for a price.

[Saint Malaachi]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitric_acid

The above link gives a reasonable good explanation of the current methods of production but not the exact recipe. It is also a little indirect in letting you know the difficulties (including safety) of doing this at home. As a citizen scientist I have found that the production of nitric acid from other than nitrates is problematic especially if you want any concentration that requires additional steps. It surely is not as easy as producing hydrochloric acid. Some people who do etching with it find that getting it easily like at the corner hardware store is nearly impossible and have to deal with regulatory issues.

You can purchase 34%+ muriatic (hydrochloric) acid for $6 at Tractor Hardware Supply in California.

[billnotgatez]

muriatic acid is hydrochloric acid not nitric acid

[csrscience.com]

you can make nitric acid from NaHSO4, and a nitrate salt. Dissolve the two in a boiling solution, and distill. It will have a water impurity, but it does contain nitric acid.

[Doctor science]

it is quiet hard to find nitric acid but it would be easier if you buy silver nitrate and extract the silver through the process of electrolysis and i think you will be left with the nitric acid. 

[billnotgatez]

i am not sure that Doctor science entry is intirely correct
Can someone confirm?

[Borek]

Chemically it is not entirely incorrect, but economically nonsensical.

It is possible to electrolyse silver nitrate getting silver on cathode and oxygen on anode, and in such solution Ag⁺ would be replaced by H⁺. But using relatively expensive reagent to produce something that is cheap is absurd.

[Quaff]

I had an old scrap gold ring that I wanted to recover the gold from, and it would have been nice to mix up some aqua regia and dissolve the thing, and subsequently precipitate the gold with SO2, oxalic acid, ferrous ion, or alkaline peroxide.

but once a few years ago I did that with a small amount and it turned out that the tiny amount of HCL vapors escaped into the garage, only a tiny amount, not enough to dissolve any tools or anything, but, that tiny amount did catalyze or activate all the iron in the area, including my tools, clamps I use for woodworking, etc.

So alater time when I wanted to recover the gold, I mixed up a salt solution and just made the ring anodic.  It worked.   Plus, during the course of the electrolysis I hit on the exact conditions necessary to cause the gold to plate out on the glass.  It was beautiful.  This is normally difficult to do, and requires formaldehyde, a reducing sugar, and careful control of conditions, etc.   So, by not going the easy aqua regia route, I ended up discovering a way to produce coherent layers of metals on glass without the use of traditional materials required to do so.  This came in handy when wanting to make glass conductive for a Graetzel-style photovoltaic cell.   

I think people who desire to play with explosives should re-think their desires, as there are many other better and more productive ways to spend one's time.   I think its the responsibility of all responsible chemists to never post anything openly that could be used by others to do something unlawful, as it could be construed as aiding and abeting, in addition to just not being right.  Anyone who has a legitimate use for nitric acid or any other chemical should have no problem in their procurement, its only those having bad motives who need to worry and be secretive.  Desiring to be secretive can be a tip-off of bad intents.   


 

[bromidewind]

One bad apple will always ruin the game for the rest of us honest citizens out there. It happens everywhere, and it sucks.

As for synthesizing nitric acid, there are two methods that I would recommend that should be possible in the States, provided you aren't synthesizing industrial sized amounts.

By reacting potassium nitrate (KNO₃, a common fertilizer ingredient) with sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) and distilling, you will get red nitric acid, which has a fair bit of nitrogen dioxide in it. By lowering the pressure to around 30 kPa, the NO₂ will be removed and you will be left with nitric acid. As for obtaining the reactants, I know I was able to purchase two pounds of 80% potassium nitrate on eBay three years ago. Sulfuric acid is commonly used by ecofriendly chemists who like making biodiesel. You can also find this on eBay for relatively cheap (1 litre goes for around $15-20). You can probably build your own pressure chamber, just look around on the internet.

The other method is to oxidize ammonia. This will give you a lower concentration of nitric acid since water will form along with it. You could always distill it though if you wanted higher concentrations. Bleach and hydrogen peroxide are two excellent oxidizers that can be bought from your local hardware store and ammonia is a common cleaning agent.

One of the main reasons nitric acid is harder to obtain in the States is because it is very easy to synthesize nitrous oxide from it. It is also commonly used as a reagent in the synthesis of some designer drugs. Even acetone is difficult to obtain now because of all the meth labs that pop up everywhere.

Oh, and for the record, it's now ATFE (they added explosives), and they don't commonly drive black suburbans. They typically drive Crown Vics, since they're slightly less inconspicuous. They usually only use SUVs for raids. I'm very close friends with a former undercover agent who's been with the agency since the 80's.

[TheRal]

OK, everyone is talking about where to buy it and when you buy too much. Let me tell you this, IT IS EXPENSIVE AS ALL HELL TO BUY A CUP FULL!!! Since your a Chemist/ Scientist You probably have flasks and sets.

Ingredients:

1. Sulfuric Acid (Cheap, find at any store like Lowe's or Home Depot, would be under liquid drain cleaner, probably like $5-10)

2. Sodium or Potassium Nitrate (Potassium Nitrate is a Stump Remover chemical. Sodium Nitrate is the Replacement Salt stuff. Each around $2-8)

3. Water (Tap is Fine)

Materials:

1. Round Bottom Flask

2. Beaker

3. A Condenser

4. A Still-head with a glass stopper at the end.

5. A glass oil burner

6. A Burning top

Measurements:

50 grams of Pure Nitrate. 75ml of Sulfuric acid.

Steps:

1. Put the Nitrate into the Round bottom flask.

2. Put the Sulfuric Acid into the flask with it.

3. Put the Still-head Onto the opening of the flask.

4. Attach the Condenser to the open side of the Still-head.

5. Place the beaker under the end of the Condenser.

And your done.

PS. This may be a little much. It yields a small amount of nitric acid. But with this method I found. The Concentration isn't like 30 or 40 at best when you buy it at the store. This yields around 70% concentration. So you can spend $30 for around 500ML for it. Or use this process and get around 10-30ML of a more pure substance for around the same price. Since we didn't actually use all of the ingredients, we can make around 2 more batches. Which would put you at around 80-100ML. Hope this helps . Just message me if you need to know anything about: Electrostatic Appliance, Acids, Bases, Corrosive materials, toxic chemicals made easy, and high explosive guides. All the stuff I use I either refine, or make from other substances so that i can be assured that I have the highest quality Elements and Compounds.

[Borek]

Just in case - please read forum rules. Especially the very first point.