So cold in the lab my dmso-d6 is freezing

I successfully synthesized two alpha deuterated amino acids

Hi, I recently synthesized two alpha dueterated amino acids for use in metabolic disease research.

For this, I acetylated the amino acids phenylalanine and leucine and deuterated them at the chiral alpha position, after which I performed enzymatic resolution with aminoacylase to isolate the (L)-variant!

The idea is that the dueterated amino acids can be used as internal standards for analysis with HPLC-MS, due to the deuterium +1 mass.

After synthesis, the amino acids were analyzed by HETCOR and COSY NMR, where it was clearly visible that the original alpha-H signal had disappeared. A deuteration of >99% has been achieved for both substances

I hope this finds someone who likes deuteriumchemistry as much is I do!

Precipitate in an ampoule of Deuterium oxide
It is a novelty item and contains 5ml of 1.7% D2O, 9% KOH and 85,3% H2O. I have had this for many years, and during some tidying today, I noticed that a white oercitipate has formed in the ampoule. Looks almost like some needellike crystals has formed. Does anyone in here have a qualified guess of what it could be? I have no qualifications in chemistry, so that is why I am asking here.