Much of the work in the Girolami group involves air-sensitive compounds; such species have interesting chemistry and often are excellent catalysts. Although we make extensive use of Schlenk techniques, some manipulations are best carried out in inert-atmosphere dryboxes such as the ones shown here. Flasks of compounds can be introduced into the box through the cylindrical port at the right. The atmosphere inside our boxes is argon; nitrogen is a more conventional choice but some of our compounds are so reactive they react with N₂!