Daniel

Molecules I've made (in model from). My very first synthesis in a research context; 4-Ethoxyiodobenzene. The paper described a "yellow oil", for me, colourless crystals that blocked the condenser. Downside; having to muck about with the vacuum distillation. Upside; more pure than those guys. 🧪

Self-indulgent, but found my old Cochrane's student model kit. Making molecules to which I have a connection. From those PhD days (~1992) I made this rhenium(I) trithiacyclononane tricarbonyl cation (unpublished). Spectacular proton NMR, magnetic inequivalence, an AA'A"BB'B"CC'C"DD'D" spin system.🧪

Bit of a renovation project.
Designed by Prof L.F.Fieser, originally sold by Aldrich, these vintage molecular model kits allow students to understand "... conformational and steric effects as well as geometric relationships". #ChemEd 🧪

Which is not what I thought it was going to be.

Then I spot this!

First I find this.

Not all of the molecular model sets I've recently acquired are tatty and grubby. I believe this is a Catalin space-filling model with Bakelite atoms. Oh the excitement, it's like Lego from the 1940s, what shall I make? 🧪 #SciComm

This is camphor; a rigid and chiral ketone. It finds little use these days, but you may encounter it as a component of the taste of Rosemary.🧪#SciComm

This is Anethole; the flavour of aniseed. Soluble in ethanol, but not in water, you see this compound as the cloudy precipitate when you pour your Ricard/Sambuca/Ouzo/Raki over ice. 🧪 #SciComm

I tried to use this construction technique to make a representation of the diamond structure, but I don't think it can be done.

Beautiful. And, chemically if atoms were at the intersections , and if it was bipartite (alternate Nb and O atoms), it is the niobium monoxide structure!

Remember, "burnt" is very much broken molecules.

This vanilla-acetone thing (aka zingerone) is a fragment of gingerol-6 and gingerol-8, which are amongst the components of the taste in fresh ginger.
Baking (180 C) is enough to drive the reaction.
In my chemistry experience, most organic molecules start to fall apart above 250 C.

I don't know much about biology, biochemistry, physiology, pharmacology or psychology...but, maybe, yeah.
I notice there are quite a few medical reviews of the anti-inflammatory properties of this wonder molecule!

That's definitely an experiment worth doing. 🤞

Labor approves extension of Woodside’s contentious North West Shelf gas development Murray Watt will approve the extension of one of the world’s biggest liquified natural gas projects from 2030 to 2070

This decision is inexplicable. I'm very angry that the science is continuing to be ignored by those elected to represent us. It will cost us all, dearly.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Adjacent to this iconic mountain today; Buachaille Etive Mor. Secretly quite pleased when eldest decided it was too midgy to continue, and we could retire to The Green Welly. #Scotland

This is Zingerone. A much better name than the legal IUPAC one; 4-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl) butan-2-one!
Cooking ginger chemically transforms the gingerol molecule into sweeter and more flavoursome zingerone.🧪 #SciComm

And everyone loves lavender!

Another small molecule from the "antique" model set:
(R)-Linalool ( C black, H white, O red) is the molecule responsible for the smell of lavender. #SciComm 🧪

"One man's rubbish is another man's treasure"
Rescued lots of grubby old chemistry model sets from a teaching lab clear out. This one scrubbed up well. Not so good free standing - heavy balls, long springs- but okay with the right support.
(R)-Carvone aka spearmint flavour #SciComm 🧪

Across Loch Long #Scotland

A bright green grain amongst the natural colours of the small pebbles on the beach.

Tiny treasure revealed by the low tide at Cove today. Uranium glass #Everydayelements 🧪
Popular and fashionable between 1880-1920, which coincides with the post industrial movement of wealthy Glaswegian merchants out of the city to large country houses in this corner of the Firth of Clyde.

This vertex and edge truncated (maybe bevelled) tetrahedron seems to be a great shape to build carbon based molecular models. I need to grow it into the diamond structure.🧪

Seem to be doing an impromptu tour of the erratics of Loch Long today. #notthebedrock #Scotland

White cardboard representation of a cuboctahedron on a green cutting board.

My surprising fact for today. Needed the centroid to vertex distance for this cuboctahedron. Thought I'd got the sum wrong; it is the same as the edge length!
Apparently the only polyhedron where this is true!🧪

Paper cubes with thick lines on the faces to give it the appearance of a dodecahedron and a paper dodecahedron with lines on its faces to give the appearance of a cube.

I like this pair: Dodecahedron disguised as a cube and cube disguised as a dodecahedron. Helping to show the related symmetries #SciComm 🧪

Looking up at my teenage offspring, before they slither down.

I am an academic parent, but my view is that doing this sort of thing with the kids is so much more important. A good day today: There and back again, to the very bottom of Goatchurch Cavern #Mendip Days to remember #caving

😂🤣 What's funny is I've spent 30 minutes thinking What does he mean? Why would you number the faces? The number of faces is in their names! Maybe it would show a route around the polyhedron, like a Hamiltonian path!
Me to son: What does this mean?
Son to me: Duh! Dice.

The five regular polyhedra.

Been trying to make some Platonic solids (reinventing the wheel), because every budding scientist should have a set of these. Nearly there. Each of these has the same sized circumsphere, diameter 8 cm, which means the net of each one fits nicely on A4. #SciComm 🧪