Molecules: You'd better learn to live with them.
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Posted on: July 2, 2007 7:52 PM, by Molecule of the Day
There really isn't that much to this one, but I've always loved the name, and it's really easy to make: chalcone.
You can actually make chalcones with no solvent at all by just mixing aldehyde, ketone, and base in a mortar and pestle. Like Ritz mock apple pie, it's fun to try at least once, even if you don't have any use for it.
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Comments
There is also an interesting biological side to this: Chalcone is the precursor of flower pigments in many plants, and overexpression of the chalcone-producing enzyme chalcone synthase led to the discovery of RNAi!
Posted by: Argent23 | July 3, 2007 1:01 AM
Do some crystal engineering with end groups and the achiral molecules will pi-stack into helices and crystalize in chiral space groups, as does benzil. Give the little molecule a great big hand! Do some topochemistry on the solid and induced chirality is locked into the product.
http://scripts.iucr.org/cgi-bin/paper?S0567740881005979
Posted by: Uncle Al | July 3, 2007 2:48 PM