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I am from India and I came here to take my PhD in organic chemistry. I am just performing a reaction using an organometallic reagent. These compounds are very powerful. Some of them react vigorously with oxygene or moisture in the air. Sometimes even self ignition occurs. Therefore air has to be strongly excluded. This is done by a special technique where the reaction flask is flushed with an inert gas like argon and equipped with a septum. All reagents are added through the septum using a syringe. Used solvents also may not contain any traces of moisture. So they have to be purified prior to use. In the picture I have the syringe in my right hand and I am just ready to pierce the septum. The flask is placed in a cold bath, because the reaction has to be run at -78 C. The red rubber tubing is the argon gas supply line. You see that modern organic reactions may be quite difficult. But you will learn all this when you are a chemistry student.
