dioxane and pyridine

Dioxane and pyridine are two of my least favorite solvents. Their usefulness arises when you need something polar (like water) but need to keep water away because it will destroy your chemistry. On the other hand, dioxane and pyridine (unlike water) are very unpleasant to come in contact with. In fact, in the grand scheme of polarity, more polar compounds tend to be way more toxic the more polar you get (like DMSO), until you get to water, where the toxicity drops off to nothing. Aside from this minor unpleasantness, pyridine smells terrible. (Of course, smelling it would indicate ingestion anyway.) As one of the less couth of my labmates likes to say after he lets out a ripe bank of flatulence, "There is no escape, if you can smell it, its already inside of you." A pleasant thought to be sure.

What do I have to gain from these unpleasantries? Really cool looking cobalt compounds.

Maybe.