[baum0372]

Hi everyone,

Recently I was goofing around (safely) in the laboratory and I added TEA to TFA (roughly 50:50) to try and make a salt.  I would expect in non-polar media such as ether or hexanes, the salt should precipitate out.  Instead I found that after sitting for a minute or two, a small liquid phase appeared at the bottom of the vial.  Since both TEA and TFA are soluble in hexanes or ether, any residual solvent should partition into the organic phase.  Is it possible that this salt is actually a liquid?  Looking at sigma, you can buy this as a solution in water, but it's crazy expensive! (http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/fluka/09747?lang=en&region=US)

Is there some sort of tricky chemistry that is going on here?

Thanks.

[discodermolide]

It's probably crystalline you probably produced it as an oil under the conditions you describe. It is very likely that it will be quite hydroscopic which is why they sell it as an aqueous solution.