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,...
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Posted on March 16, 2008 4:52 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
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:...
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Posted on March 14, 2008 10:56 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
This one always shocks people the first time they hear it. Have you ever seen "carmine" on an ingredients label of some food in the red-purple color family? Yeah, you're eating bugs....
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Posted on January 30, 2008 10:19 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Benzophenone is something you probably encounter most often in sunscreen:...
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Posted on September 21, 2007 8:11 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Tiron is a metal ligand and can be used in colorimetric metal assays....
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Posted on September 11, 2007 7:34 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Henna tattoos are a pretty harmless way for hippies to entertain and adorn themselves. A relatively benign dye, Lawsone, stains the skin (or hair) a ruddy brown. Like a semi-temporary tattoo. However, you're limited to pretty much just that color....
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Posted on June 22, 2007 7:20 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
I just love this. Ever wonder how a rewritable CD works?...
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Posted on May 9, 2007 9:04 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
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...
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Posted on April 27, 2007 7:32 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Edit: Looks like I might be off on this. If you're in Chicago, the river will be green this weekend. For that, you can thank fluorescein:...
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Posted on March 16, 2007 8:00 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Fluorene is a very simple aromatic hydrocarbon. It's often used in physical chemistry classes to teach an important lesson about fluorescence: rigidity matters:...
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Posted on March 15, 2007 9:43 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Molecules: You'd better learn to live with them.
