Molecules: You'd better learn to live with them.
March 28, 2008
Category: Not Really a Molecule
Certain compounds occur as "hydrates"; that is, with one or more molecules of water. Sometimes there is just water trapped in the crystal structure at a specific stoichiometry (i.e., creatine), sometimes the water is actually covalently incorporated into the molecule,...
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 1:56 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 24, 2008
Happy Dyngus day....
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 10:37 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 20, 2008
As I've discussed in the past, certain dyes can detect radiation, stain DNA, sense solvent polarity, or (in olden times!) color the Chicago River green. This one can make a laser!...
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 10:43 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 17, 2008
Category: Not Really a Molecule
I posted Sunday and last year about the putative use of fluoresciein in the Chicago river on St. Patrick's day. As some readers pointed out, they apparently aren't using it anymore....
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 11:47 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 16, 2008
Category: Dyes
Edit: Looks like I might be off on this. CNN has a clip in the rotation right now about the yearly tradition of dying the Chicago river green for St. Patrick's day. They're saying it's a "secret orange dye." Well,...
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 4:52 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 15, 2008
Category: Not Really a Molecule
The readership might also enjoy A Chemical Sabbatical....
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 2:09 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 14, 2008
Category: Dyes
Like alizarin, indigo is a dye that we used to have to rely on a plant to make. Now we're able to synthesize it:...
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 10:56 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Not Really a Molecule
Wow, sorry. I pretty much missed a whole week there. A consolation Friday entry coming up, but first, if you enjoyed Breaking Bad, you might enjoy Trampled Underfoot, the autobiographical blog of Todd Hall, a chef in the Southwestern US....
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 9:34 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 13, 2008
Flavylium is an unusual heterocycle - it has a trivalent oxygen atom. These tend to be quite reactive - trialkyloxoniums, some of the most potent alkylating agents, contain them....
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 9:59 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 7, 2008
Category: Drugs
As I mentioned in the previous entries on HF, mercury fulminate, and phosphine, I really like Breaking Bad. As an astute commenter noted yesterday, they sometimes make some mistakes:...
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 9:00 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
