Amateur chemistry or home chemistry is the pursuit of chemistry as a private hobby. Amateur chemistry is usually done with whatever chemicals are available at disposal at the privacy of one's home. It should not be confused with clandestine chemistry, which involves the illicit production of controlled drugs. Notable amateur chemists include Oliver Sacks and Sir Edward Elgar.
History
Origins Amateur chemistry shares its early history with that of chemistry in general. Pioneers of modern chemistry such as Robert Boyle and Antoine Lavoisier were gentlemen scientists who pursued their research independently from their source of income. Only with the coming of the Industrial Revolution, and the rise of universities as research institutions, did any significant distinction between amateurs and professionals emerge. Nevertheless, amateur progress lasted well into the 19th century. For example, in 1886, Charles Martin Hall co-invented the Hall-Héroult process for extracting aluminium from its oxide whilst working in a woodshed behind his family home. The history of amateur chemistry ties in well with that of chemistry in general. The history of chemistry represents a time span from ancient history to the present. By 1000 BC, civilizations used technologies that would eventually form the basis to the various branches of chemistry. These processes include extracting metals from ores, making pottery and glazes, fermenting beer and wine, extracting chemicals from plants for medicine and perfume, rendering fat into soap, making glass, and making alloys like bronze.
Chemistry as a hobby Throughout much of the 20th century, amateur chemistry was an unexceptional hobby, with high-quality chemistry sets readily available, and laboratory suppliers freely selling to hobbyists. For example, Linus Pauling had no difficulty in procuring potassium cyanide at the age of eleven. Many academics, from researchers to university professors, and even Nobel prize laureates, have acknowledged that at least part of their interest in sciences could be traced back to chemistry sets and home labs when they were young. These include Dorothy Hodgkin, Robert F. Curl, George A. Olah, Rudolph A. Marcus, Louis J. Ignarro, Richard Schrock, Roger Y. Tsien, William D. Phillips, Steven Weinberg, Peter Licence, etc. However, due to increasing concerns about terrorism, drugs, and safety, suppliers became increasingly reluctant to sell to amateurs, and chemistry sets were steadily toned down. This trend has gradually continued, leaving hobbyists in many parts of the world without access to most reagents.
Even as recently as 2023, amateur chemists on forums and YouTube channels have been credited by academic researchers for suggesting and discussing novel viable synthetic routes before full investigations by the latter.
Usefulness as a learning and work training tool
Home-based chemistry labs were explored as a way to remotely teach students during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially since many local and state-level governments across the world imposed lockdowns or other types of restrictions to contain the spread of the virus.
Notable amateur chemists Internet pioneer Vint Cerf, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, and Hewlett Packard co-founder David Packard all used to practice amateur chemistry. British neurologist Oliver Sacks was a keen amateur chemist in his youth, as described in his memoir Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood. Nobel Prize winning chemist Linus Pauling practised amateur chemistry in his youth. Wolfram Research co-founder Theodore Gray is a keen amateur chemist and element collector. His exploits (most notably the construction of a wooden table in the shape of the periodic table, having compartments holding real samples of each element) earned him the 2002 Ig Nobel prize for chemistry, which he accepted as a great honor. He writes a column for Popular Science magazine, featuring his home experiments. Amateur rocketeer (and later NASA engineer) Homer Hickham, together with his fellow Rocket Boys, experimented with a range of home-made rocket propellants. These included "Rocket Candy" made from potassium nitrate and sugar, and "Zincoshine" made from zinc and sulfur held together with moonshine alcohol. Composer Sir Edward Elgar practised amateur chemistry from a laboratory erected in his back garden. The original manuscript of the prelude to The Kingdom is stained with chemicals. Robert Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders of modern chemistry, and one of the pioneers of modern experimental scientific method. Maurice Ward, a hairdresser and amateur chemist who invented the thermal insulating material called Starlite. Robert Cornelius, inventor, businessman and lamp manufacturer credited for creating the first photographic self-portrait in 1839.
Restrictions Whilst the hobby is probably legal in most jurisdictions, the relationship between amateur chemists and law enforcement agencies is often fraught. Hobbyists are often affected by laws intended to fight drugs and terrorism. Furthermore, many chemical supply houses refuse to sell to amateurs, with such policies sometimes being stated openly. Even though the regulations discussed in this section may affect professional and academic laboratories (e.g. business and universities), private individuals, or both, amateur chemists are still affected by those addressed to the former ones, since they usually contain clues that explain the behaviour of these chemical suppliers. Medium-sized suppliers and multinationals have whole departments, sometimes named Compliance or Regulatory affairs, tasked with periodically checking and implementing new regulations regarding chemicals on their companies.
Canada In Canada, a wide range of basic laboratory reagents such as nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide are restricted as "explosives precursors". Two of the main legal texts in Canada restricting the sale of certain chemicals are the Explosives Act, and the Explosives Regulations, 2013 (SOR/2013-211). Part 20 of the latter restricts the sale, acquisition, and storage of ten explosives precursors, namely, ammonium nitrate in solid form and with a nitrogen concentration >=28%, hydrogen peroxide >=30% conc., nitromethane, potassium chlorate, potassium perchlorate, solid sodium chlorate, nitric acid >= 75% conc., potassium nitrate, mixtures of potassium nitrate and sodium nitrate, and solid sodium nitrate. In 2021, the Canada Gazette published an amendment proposal to the Explosives Regulations, 2013 , which suggested measures including the classification of precursors into three tiers, and the addition of calcium ammonium nitrate, hexamethylenetetramine, aluminium powder, and acetone to the precursors list.
In late 2008, Lewis Casey, an 18-year-old college student from Saskatchewan, was arrested for owning a small chemistry lab in his family's garage. After the raid, the police initially claimed that it was a meth lab, but withdrew the drug charge a few days later. The Crown withdrew criminal charges against him on Oct. 13.
European Union In the EU, regulations regarding reagent restrictions can be classified in several different sets: dual-use goods, substances in the Schedules 1, 2 and 3 of the CWC, substances on the Common Military List, hazardous chemicals (as defined by Prior Informed Consent Regulation), chemicals subject to the anti-torture regulation, chemicals that cannot be exported to given countries due to sanctions and embargoes, explosives precursors and drug precursors. Those regulations may contain provisions affecting one or more types of "agents" (e.g. manufacturers, resellers, distributors, etc.), end users, or both. Reagent manufacturers typically require customers to sign an end user declaration before accepting and processing the sale of a chemical listed on these schedules.
One of the cornerstones of EU legislation on hazardous chemicals is the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), which is defined in Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006
On the topic of explosives precursors, Regulation (EU) No. 98/2013 introduced rules to harmonize the sale, possession and use of several substances across all EU countries. It requires that each member state must define a National Contact Point to which economic operators must report suspicious transactions, thefts, and disappearances of significant quantities involving scheduled substances.
On 1 February 2021, Regulation (EU) 2019/1148 amended REACH and repealed Regulation (EC) No. 98/2013. The newer one is designed to ban the sale and possession of explosives precursors by members of the general public above given concentrations. Any individual can own these chemicals provided their concentration is below or equal to a given limit (e.g. for sulfuric acid up to 15% conc. in weight). Said upper limit allowed can be increased (e.g. for sulfuric acid, up to 40% conc.) by requesting a license to the national authority. Professional users are not affected by these thresholds. However, professional users and members of the general public must also report significant disappearances and thefts of restricted explosives precursors within 24 hours of detection to the national contact point.
+ List of scheduled explosives precursors on the EU Category Substance Upper limit w/o license Upper limit w/ licenseRestricted Nitric acid 3% w/w 10% w/w Hydrogen peroxide 12% w/w 35% w/w Sulfuric acid 15% w/w 40% w/w Nitromethane 16% w/w 100% w/w Ammonium nitrate 16% w/w of nitrogen in relation to ammonium nitrate (4) No licensing permitted Potassium chlorate 40% w/w No licensing permitted Potassium perchlorate 40% w/w No licensing permitted Sodium chlorate 40% w/w No licensing permitted Sodium perchlorate 40% w/w No licensing permittedReportable HexamineDoes not applyDoes not apply Acetone Potassium nitrate Sodium nitrate Calcium nitrate Calcium ammonium nitrate Magnesium, powders Magnesium nitrate hexahydrate Aluminium, powders
Drug precursors: Regulation (EC) No 273/2004 Regulation (EC) No 111/2005 Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1011 of 24 April 2015
Regulation (EC) No 273/2004 was amended by Regulation (EU) No 1258/2013, which introduced the term "user", and split reagents on category 2 into categories 2A and 2B + List of scheduled drug precursors on the EU Category Substance Threshold Category 1 1-phenyl-2-propanone (P2P) Methyl alpha-phenylacetoacetate (MAPA) Methyl 2-methyl-3-phenyloxirane-2-carboxylate (BMK methyl glycidate) 2-methyl-3-phenyloxirane-2-carboxylic acid (BMK glycidic acid) N-acetylanthranilic acid Alpha-phenylacetoacetamide (APAA) Alpha-phenylacetoacetonitrile (APAAN) Isosafrol (cis + trans) 3,4-methylenedioxyphenylpropan-2-one Piperonal Safrole Methyl 3-(1,3-benzodioxol-5-yl)-2-methyloxirane-2-carboxylate (PMK methyl glycidate) 3-(1,3-benzodioxol-5-yl)-2-methyloxirane-2-carboxylic acid (PMK glycidic acid) 4-anilino-N-phenethylpiperidine (ANPP) N-phenethyl-4-piperidone (NPP) Ephedrine Pseudoephedrine Norephedrine Ergometrine Ergotamine Lysergic acid (1R,2S)-(-)-chloroephedrine (1S,2R)-(+)-chloroephedrine (1S,2S)-(+)-chloropseudoephedrine (1R,2R)-(-)-chloropseudoephedrine Subcategory 2A Red phosphorus 0,1 kg Acetic anhydride 100 l Subcategory 2B Phenylacetic acid 1 kg Anthranilic acid 1 kg Piperidine 0,5 kg Potassium permanganate 100 kg Category 3 Hydrochloric acid Sulfuric acid Toluene Ethyl ether Acetone Methylethylketone