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Molecules: You'd better learn to live with them.
December 27, 2007
Category: Inorganic
Everyone by now has tried products like OxiClean, or detergents with "oxygen bleach." Rather than http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_hypochlorite" rel="nofollow">sodium hypochlorite, which is found in regular bleach, they've got sodium percarbonate, which is actually a mixed crystal of sodium carbonate (the old-timey name...
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 3:21 PM • 3 Comments •
December 19, 2007
Category: Biology
But if you've never read it, check out Can a Biologist Fix a Radio?...
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 9:50 PM • 0 Comments •
December 18, 2007
Category: Medicine
What, then, does Jack Dreyfus have to do with chemistry? You see, this Wall Street titan had a favorite molecule.
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 8:32 PM • 5 Comments •
December 14, 2007
Category: Biology
Making biomolecules is tricky - getting a reasonable quantity of whatever DNA or protein you're after can take what seems like heroic efforts. You're made acutely aware of the fact that the humblest bacterium does this without breaking a sweat....
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 8:34 PM • 5 Comments •
December 12, 2007
Category: Synthesis
So people gush over bmim and get the guaranteed publications for including "ionic liquid" in the title of their article. Ionic liquids are far from the newest fad, though, they've been around for nearly 100 years!...
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 9:13 PM • 2 Comments •
December 11, 2007
Category: DNA
Most metal ions will coordinate some electron-rich species in solution - water is a common suspect. Many other things can be hung off of certain metals, however, and an entire field and fame and fortune are available to those who...
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 8:18 PM • 4 Comments •
December 6, 2007
Category: Medicine
About 80 years ago, a scientist [pdf] wanted to learn about cholesterol metabolism. He took chicken feed and extracted it with organic solvent. In order make sure fat-soluble vitamins weren't left out, he added in cod liver oil (giving vitamins...
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 7:50 PM • 3 Comments •
December 4, 2007
Category: Drugs
Anaesthetics are weird. Much of what we use has a paucity of the oxygens and nitrogens that seems to make most drugs work, and there's been substantial puzzlement and handwringing over exactly how some of these things work. Xenon, for...
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 9:11 PM • 3 Comments •
December 3, 2007
Category: Synthesis
When you take organic chemistry, you learn about methyl iodide for putting on a methyl group. Eventually, though, if you stick with chemistry, you need an alkylating agent for grown-ups....
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 11:32 PM • 5 Comments •
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