Molecule of the Day

Silane (Weirdo methane)

Category: Explosives

A lot of science-fiction writers have spent a lot of time and energy hypothesizing silicon-based life. This isn't completely insane - if you go down a column of the periodic table, stuff tends to be the same. Fluorine, chlorine, bromine,...

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Posted by Molecule of the Day at 11:56 PM • 13 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

DDQ (Oxidizing stuff with a marginally more soluble reagent)

Category: Stinky

DDQ is a benzoquinone derivative with some electron-withdrawing substituents, making it a bit more potent:...

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Posted by Molecule of the Day at 10:51 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Bongkrek Acid (Funny name, unfunny results)

Category: Poisons

In many parts of the world, what Westerners would call "meat alternatives" are the main source of protein. One such product is tempeh, made from soy. A particular variety, when contaminated with a particular bacterium, can become contaminated with a...

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Posted by Molecule of the Day at 8:41 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Rimonabant (The Anti-Weed)

Category: Medicine

Marijuana is a puzzling drug, and a contentious one at that. Pure THC is sold pharmaceutically (and DEA-OK), but the whole plant isn't OK with the feds. That said, many states have decriminalized it for medical use. The pharmacology of...

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Posted by Molecule of the Day at 9:00 AM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Varenicline/Chantix (Not like the others)

Category: Drugs

Smoking cessation is tricky business - most of the time, people have used nicotine replacement therapy (the patch, the gum, etc) or CNS active drugs (like Wellbutrin/Zyban/Bupropion). None of it works that well - the manufacturers of today's molecule, Chantix,...

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Posted by Molecule of the Day at 9:11 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Selenocysteine (#21)

Category: Biology

Amino acids impart lots of functions to proteins, and a lot of the interesting chemistry happens at a few residues. Many hydrophobic residues like valine and leucine play a huge role - they don't like to touch water, and they...

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Posted by Molecule of the Day at 10:26 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Ethylene Glycol Dinitrate (More of a tattletale than an explosive)

Category: Explosives

Ethylene glycol dinitrate is simply the dinitrate ester of ethylene glycol - putting glycol under the same reaction conditions that yield the primitive nitro explosives, like nitroglycerin or TNT, yields this compound. Why's it important? It has a decent vapor...

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Posted by Molecule of the Day at 9:53 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Valencene (These are juice oranges!)

Category: Perfumey

Valencene is a citrus odorant found in the Valencia orange, hence its name:...

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Posted by Molecule of the Day at 8:13 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Mutagen X (Yeah, I picked it just for the name)

I hadn't heard of this one before today: Mutagen X....

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Posted by Molecule of the Day at 6:47 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

1,4-butanediol (Date rape drug or solvent for kids' toys?)

Category: Forensics

There are a lot of stories bouncing around about a toy in Australia, Bindeez, which are apparently little beads that adhere to one another when you wet them. There are a ton of news sources getting very confused, but Reuters...

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Posted by Molecule of the Day at 7:56 PM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks