The power of fire has awed, inspired, and terrified man since time immemorial. The secrets of the flame have traditionally been carefully guarded by the valiant warriors and bold experimenters of history. The science of chemistry garners no greater fascination than with demonstrations of fire and explosions. Many scientists embarked upon their chosen profession after first experimenting with the power of the flame, harnessing its ferocity, and nurturing the spark of scientific curiosity. To see the flash, to smell the smoke, to feel the heat is to become transformed. Ignorance is consumed and replaced by a burning to learn more about the natural world.

The Rogue Science database of energetic materials provides detailed methods of laboratory synthesis for over 100 explosive compounds and propellants. The database will eventually encompass nearly 1000 compounds. Nearly all of the explosives and propellants in this database have been used, or are being developed, for military or commercial purposes.

Specifically excluded are explosive mixtures and formulations, with a handful of exceptions. The focus of the Chem Lab is to present the synthesis of unique chemical compounds. Also excluded is information on the use of energetic materials.

The political and military use of toxic chemicals is a centuries-old tradition deeply shrouded in secrecy and treachery. Poisons, a favored tool of assassins since ancient times, can be used to quickly and quietly dispatch a target. In modern times both the United States government and Russia have developed chemical weapons so hideously lethal they can decimate the population of an entire city.

Toxins are also very useful tools for ridding the world of unwanted life. Herbicides help clear fields and reduce weeds, allowing crops and gardens to flourish. Pesticides keep loathsome insects from spreading disease and economic devastation in their wake. Poisons get rid of household pests like rodents, and the occasional cheating spouse.

The ability to detect, counter, and decontaminate chemical weapons and environmental toxins, as well as recognize and treat the symptoms of these chemicals, is an active area of chemistry and medical research. The study of the synthesis of toxins is a secretive and misunderstood area of chemistry. Knowing how poisons and chemical weapons are made is an important step in understanding how such compounds affect the human body. Knowledge of how chemical weapons are made is an important step in recognizing what ingredients may be diverted to clandestine laboratories.

The chemistry of toxins, poisons, and chemical weapons is a highly rewarding exercise in scientific education. Toxins often share functional group commonalities with other seemingly harmless compounds. We may be exposed to toxins at work, by consumer products, or after accidents and spills in our communities. Knowing the chemistry of what is toxic, and what is not, can prepare us to handle the chemicals that compose our everyday lives accordingly.

"One pill makes you larger. And one pill makes you small. And the ones that mother gives you don't do anything at all."

Modern medicine has a pill for just about everything, even though they never seem to actually cure anything. If a drug does work it either gets banned or costs an exorbitant amount of money. According to my calculations comparing the prices of several popular prescription drugs at the pharmacy vs. the cost of synthesizing these same compounds using relatively expensive reagents purchased in small quantities, the results are quite intriguing: prescription drugs are 10–100x more expensive if purchased from a pharmacy than synthesized in the lab. If the drug is still under patent, the markup can be even greater.

Pharmaceutical compounds are yet another area of chemistry shrouded in secrecy and mystery. Interesting and popular medications run the gamut from abortifactants to weight loss drugs. This section details the synthesis of a select few politically charged medications. No copayments or prescriptions needed.

"Johnny was a chemist's son, but now he is no more. What Johnny thought was H₂O was H₂SO₄!"

Amateur scientists and chemical hobbyists delight! This section details the many ways basic laboratory chemicals can be synthesized or obtained from OTC (over-the-counter) materials. Chemistry sets may be anachronistic in a litigious society, but the will of a determined scientist can overcome such trifles as a lack of suppliers willing to sell chemicals to individuals.

In professional circles it is casually assumed if a common reagent is needed that it can be ordered from a chemical supplier. It is this simple for those with corporate or university accounts, but the citizen chemist is effectively forbidden from purchasing even innocuous chemicals out of senseless, imbecilic, and shortsighted laws that grow increasingly tyrannical.

The unintended consequence of banning and restricting chemicals is research is now the exclusive domain of wealthy corporations and governments. No more can an entrepreneur or scientific pioneer conduct chemical experiments in a private laboratory. Certain overzealous jurisdictions have even criminalized the mere possession of flasks and test tubes, striking a death knell for scientific literacy.

While it may be nearly impossible to purchase needed chemicals, it is still possible to make your own. Chemistry textbooks used to be filled with instructions to make laboratory chemicals. Researchers of earlier generations had to supply their own reagents before the advent of large scale chemical manufacturing. This information is surprisingly very difficult to find. Much of the knowledge of small scale chemical preparation has been lost, or rather temporarily misplaced. No chemical is impossible to make because the land, air, and water are all sources for chemicals. Just as industry starts with the matter of the Earth, so too must the dedicated citizen chemist.

A microwave oven is more than just a ubiquitous household appliance for reheating pizza or thawing frozen mashed potatoes. Microwave energy is not merely a novel means of heating chemicals. Microwave reactions oftentimes go faster, achieve greater yields, and use common non-toxic solvents. This entrenches microwave chemistry as an important tool in the arsenal of green chemists.

Microwaves also have the potential to enable amateur experimenters to perform reactions previously thought beyond their capabilities. Cheap and easy chemical reactions using a tool found in virtually all households should intrigue every citizen chemist and teacher, just as it has professional chemists.

Microwave chemistry is a professional interest of mine, and so I created this section to fill a gap in what I perceive to be a lack of quality microwave chemistry information of any kind on the Internet. Besides collecting every book and journal article on microwave chemistry I can get my hands on, I am also developing a safe, inexpensive microwave reactor for microwave assisted organic synthesis, and a powerful microwave furnace to melt steel and glass (think less safe, more expensive). Don't tell the FCC or they'll tan my delta . . .