Molecules: You'd better learn to live with them.
April 27, 2007
Category: Dyes
The word chromatography, reveals its origins - in the beginning of the 20th century, Mikhail Tsvet - color compounds. The modern stable of robust, tunable separation techniques (i.e., chromatography) is probably one of the most important things chemistry has given...
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 7:32 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 26, 2007
Category: Not Really a Molecule
Back tomorrow....
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 7:24 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 25, 2007
Category: Biology
Aqueous bio-compatible reducing agents are legion, but people end up using the same ones over and over. Probably the least used is TCEP (which doesn't stink at all), next is dithiothreitol (and the related but slightly less effective dithioerythritol), which...
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 9:00 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 24, 2007
Category: Biology
Yesterday's entry on Dithiothreitol garnered one lone comment. Remarking on the smell. True enough; it's a thiol - where there's sulfur, there's often stink. There is a biologically compatible reducing agent that doesn't stink at all: tris(carboxyethyl)phosphine, or TCEP....
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 9:35 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 23, 2007
Category: Biology
The environment within a cell is actually rather reducing, this is evidenced by the free cysteine found in some proteins. Many proteins require a free cysteine to operate properly, and once they're outside the cell, they can easily become oxidized....
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 8:13 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 20, 2007
Category: Synthesis
Phosgene is a very useful molecule, but it's often not the best for the situation, and it has the unfortunate side effect of being a gas. A war gas....
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 9:38 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 19, 2007
Category: Inorganic
Carbon, with its four valence electrons, is in a unique position; its valence shells are exactly half filled. Compounds of elements with three valence electrons (such as boron) and elements with five valence electrons (such as nitrogen) can act very...
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 9:23 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 18, 2007
Category: Polymers
Inulin is polymeric fructose:...
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 8:29 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 17, 2007
Category: Synthesis
Sorry for the short updates this week! Chloranil is an oxidizing agent. Part of its usefulness comes from its solubility in organic solvent, which you don't see with things like permanganate or H2O2....
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 7:40 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 16, 2007
Category: Synthesis
Meta-chloroperbenzoic acid is a common organic oxidant used in synthesis. It is popular in part because it is very easy to handle; another common peracid, peracetic acid, is a liquid....
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 7:47 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
