[Syentethai]

So someone in my lab allowed styrene monomer to harden in a flask, and now we can't get the glass stopper out. We've tried using a micropipet to add toluene to dissolve it, but it doesn't seem to be working. Any ideas?

[Mitch]

Toluene will dissolve polystyrene, just use a lot and keep at it. Let it sit in a toluene bath overnight in a fume hood if need be.

[P]

Yea  -  let it soak in for for as long as it takes  -  even a a couple of days to let the solvent seep right into the gaps.

[Gerard]

styrene monomer is a strong organic polymer of repeating units any phenol based material at exessive amount will readily dissolve toluene..
-artifial student

[DrCMS]

styrene monomer is a strong organic polymer of repeating units any phenol based material at exessive amount will readily dissolve toluene..
-artifial student

Would you like to try again in English?

[Gerard]

erratum:

styrene monomer is a strong organic polymer of repeating units any phenol based material at exessive amount will readily dissolve toluene..
-artifial student

the last word should be organic polymer of repeating units like monomer....

[DrCMS]

erratum:

styrene monomer is a strong organic polymer of repeating units any phenol based material at exessive amount will readily dissolve toluene..
-artifial student

the last word should be organic polymer of repeating units like monomer....

No!
Styrene is a monomer.
Polystyrene is an organic polymer with repeating units.
Some polymers with phenyl groups will dissolve in toluene

[Gerard]

erratum again...
a repeating monomer unit....

[PolymerKnowHow]

You've probably gotten the stopper free by now, but you could have also heated the flask up to ~200 degC or so such that the viscosity of the polymer was more manageable.