Methods applied in a
chemistry laboratory setting that are intended to cut corners and save time. It is also done frequently in poorly funded laboratories due to lack of materials.
Some examples include:
Sparging a solvent for an
air sensitive reaction for 30 minutes rather than the recommended
1.5-2 hours.
Rinsing used glassware once with an organic solvent and reusing.
Choosing an acid/base on the basis of availability, rather than literature precedence.
Preceding to the next synthetic step without thorough purification.
Negative root causes for adapting these methods are typically hunger, tiredness, laziness or
depression. On the other hand, these methods are often efficiently applied by those who have achieved a
well developed intuition for the chemistries.
"
Dude I am so hungry, I'm just gunna cowboy chem this
work-up so I can get some
taco-bell before they close."
"I told Dr. ______ my reaction didn't
work because the starting material was oxidized, but honestly I cowboy chem'd the work-up and I think I decomposed the product."
"Rules are made so that the less adept make as few mistakes as possible. If you're smart you can do some cowboy chemistry to save a lot of time and materials."
"How did you finish the synthesis that fast?" -- "Cowboy chemistry lol".
