Talk:Alkyl nitrites

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[edit] Merger

Alkyl nitrates should be merged with Poppers, and the combination moved to Alkyl nitrite, no a redirect with history so takes admin intervention to accomplish. Gene Nygaard 18:17, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

Disagree. Alkyl nitrates (formula R-O-NO₂, nitroglycerine is a member of that class) are a different class of compounds than are alkyl nitrites (formula R-ONO, amyl nitrite is a well-known representative of that group). Organic nitro compounds (nitrobenzene, nitromethane) are yet another class of compounds. The reason that Alkyl nitrites got its separate article was that they are used in synthetic chemistry, and that the information here would be all but swamped in the big article on poppers, where the recreational use is discussed. Dr Zak 19:14, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

I think I replied to the original post on this in the wrong place. Sorry about that. In my other post, I mentioned some there had been a doctor who had a genuine reason for keeping these article separated, but I could not remember what it was. Now that I see his post (Dr. Zak) I remember.

I agree with Dr. Zak. 216.54.197.236 22:12, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

Well, no matter what, they need to be better cross-linked and the relationship better explained in the articles themselves. As it is, this article is a mere stub with little utility at all, and no particular reason not to be "swamped" in the other article. So if you want them separate, see what you can do about that. Gene Nygaard 00:52, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

Gene, what exactly is your argument for merging the article, apart from saying it's a "mere stub" on a class of compounds? We have stubs and short articles on all sorts of compounds and classes of compounds, and as it happens alkyl nitrites are only infrequently encountered. There is not much to be said about them apart from the fact that they can be made and that they are used on occasion for certain reactions. If you look at Organic Syntheses there are preparations for butyl [1] and isoamyl nitrite [2], which are referenced in less than a dozen preparations.

On the other hand, the focus of the two articles (poppers and alkyl nitrites) is very different. Someone who is interested in one aspect (the pharmacology and social aspects) will likely not be interested in the other (synthetic applications). We have this often. Even though introductory quantum mechanics is routinely taught to chemists hydrogen atom did not get merged into hydrogen, because someone interested in the solutions of the Schroedinger equation may at the moment not bother with the chemistry of hydrogen gas. I don't think that article length was an issue in keeping the two articles separate. Dr Zak 01:26, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

The focus may be different, but they aren't two totally different things. I'm not dead set on merging them; but unless somebody does a whole lot better job of tying the separate articles together, I shall continue to push for merger. Gene Nygaard 01:36, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

Why not try and merge ethanol and alcoholic beverage, too? Same issue there. Dr Zak 03:50, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

I strongly disagree with a merger. I think that some info from poppers should be moved to alkyl nitrites, although subsets from each other, there are some distinct differences (a nitrite with a very high boiling point is not a popper, while amylnitrite is a popper but also a useful lab-chemical). If nobody objects soon, I may have a go at that (this evening), trying to rewrite the three .. or maybe even four pages (alkyl nitrites, alkyl nitrates, nitroalkanes (right title?), and poppers. Could someone keep an eye on the 'medical/recreational' use of poppers, I am not extremely knowledgable in that field (but then I will try not to touch on that part too much, but may post some questions). --Dirk Beetstra ^{T C} 07:53, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

• I agree 'poppers' and alkyl nitrites should not be merged. But, Gene Nygaard is right, they should be tied together. I note that on the poppers page the merge notice is still at the top of the page. I'd like to delete the notice, and link out to the alkyl nitrites page from the summary on the poppers page.Lt. Dan 20:29, 1 November 2006 (UTC)