Turning Styrofoam into Cinnamon Candy: Lecture Notes

Introduction

Sponsor: Nebula
Presenter: Discusses previous projects turning inedible items into food (plastic gloves to hot sauce, paint thinner to cherry soda).
Current Project: Transforming styrofoam into cinnamon candy.
Reasoning: Styrofoam (polystyrene) can theoretically be converted into styrene. Styrene has a similar chemical structure to cinnamaldehyde, the compound giving cinnamon its flavor.

Materials Needed: Styrofoam cups, acetone, large dish, baking tray.
Styrofoam Breakdown Process: Removal of Air:
- Styrofoam cups are dipped in acetone (nail polish remover), releasing air as bubbles, converting cups into a gooey form.
- Polystyrene goo requires drying to remove acetone.
- Drying process involves spreading out on a baking tray, breaking apart, and waiting for acetone to evaporate.
- Final step: Blender powdering.

Chemical Setup: Flask, magnesium oxide (catalyst), short path condenser, vacuum adapter.
Heating to Break Polystyrene: Allows the collection of yellow styrene liquid.
Purification Steps: Separatory funnel to remove water, adding sodium sulfate to dry, distillation to purify styrene.
Validation: FTIR and HNMR tests confirm purity.

Synthesis Setup: Solvent (DMF), ice bath, phosphorus oxychloride, styrene, sodium acetate solution, water bath.
Key Steps: Creating Vilsmeier-Haack Reagent, Adding Styrene, Heating, Cooling, Final Addition of Sodium Acetate Solution.
Final Product: Black oil turns into cinnamaldehyde.
Purification: Via diethyl ether and water washes, followed by multiple distillations.
Result: Pure cinnamaldehyde confirmed by both analytical tests.

Ingredients & Apparatus: Water, table sugar, corn syrup, cooking pot, thermometer, silicone mat, customized candy rollers.
Initial Attempt: Failed due to improper handling and cooling.
Recovery Attempt: Heating the mixture again with added water and corn syrup, successful transformation into dough-like consistency.
Forming Candy: Using customized heart-shaped rollers, producing cinnamon hearts.

Taste Test: Successful, resulting candy has a good cinnamon flavor.
Reflection: Despite initial failures, project is considered a success.
Future Plans: More candy projects and dangerous experiments (e.g., turning air into a bomb) with support from Nebula.

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