Derek Lowe, an Arkansan by birth, got his BA from Hendrix College and his PhD in organic chemistry from Duke before spending time in Germany on a Humboldt Fellowship on his post-doc. He's worked for several major pharmaceutical companies since 1989 on drug discovery projects against schizophrenia, Alzheimer's, diabetes, osteoporosis and other diseases.
To contact Derek email him directly: derekb.lowe@gmail.com
Twitter: Dereklowe
You chemists may have really stretched things to get a reaction to work, but here's a good set of "Conditions You'll Probably Never Be Desperate Enough to Try". Bone meal? Ground carrots? I think he has a point.
Thanks Derek for the link; I have had more traffic in the last 24 hours than I have ever had in a month! Cheers J.S. Boc and Markus - I'll definitely take the Tenderbutton comparison as a complement. Wish I could somehow manage the update frequency that Dylan used to.
Hilarious! OMG. I remember reading a few old-timey preps that used things like "cracked gasoline" and "chips of clay plate". A labmate in grad school once proposed a synthesis with a McMurry coupling that involved a catalyst doped on wool. It wasn't well-received.
@Secondaire just the other day I was reading one of R. B. Woodward's early papers which called for a Palladium-on-asbestos catalyst. That almost made the list but the original paper describing its use was in German, and not available online
This is a little off the synthetic route, but we had a post doc in our lab who came from a lab that would calibrate their FT-ICR's (high res MS) with a bottle of guiness they kept in a fridge for years. It was a source of abundant polysaccharides over a large molecular weight range, and a cheaper "standard" than would you could be from anywhere else.
Bengu Sezen could have gotten away with it if she'd thought of this! "The reaction was carried out in a bath of boiling mercury under a xenon atmosphere" would have discouraged attempts to repeat the work!
16. newnickname on May 18, 2012 12:22 PM writes...
I seem to recall that the earliest catalytic enantioselective hydrogenation was done using palladium on silk fiber ... in the 1930s.
There's an Org Synth that stipulates that the reaction be poured into a bucket of ice and stirred with a large wooden paddle. I can assure you that a magnet, a small teflon paddle, a piece of lattice rod and other lab stuff didn't work so it was a race down to the shop to cut out a wooden paddle on the band saw and save the reaction.
1. JasonP on May 11, 2012 11:26 AM writes...
Hah, told ya: alchemy. :)
Permalink to Comment2. Paul on May 11, 2012 12:20 PM writes...
Eye of newt, hair of bat. Remember to stir widdershins by the light of a full moon.
Permalink to Comment3. partial agonist on May 11, 2012 12:40 PM writes...
Heineken seems like an expensive solvent!
Permalink to Comment4. sgcox on May 11, 2012 12:45 PM writes...
Much cheaper than DMSO from Sigma !
Permalink to Comment5. J.S. Boc on May 11, 2012 12:49 PM writes...
BRSM might just be the best blog on organic synthesis in existence (Woodward Wednesdays FTW!).
Permalink to Comment6. Markus on May 11, 2012 10:49 PM writes...
BRSM reminds me of Tenderbutton..
Permalink to Comment7. BRSM on May 12, 2012 5:13 AM writes...
Thanks Derek for the link; I have had more traffic in the last 24 hours than I have ever had in a month! Cheers J.S. Boc and Markus - I'll definitely take the Tenderbutton comparison as a complement. Wish I could somehow manage the update frequency that Dylan used to.
Permalink to Comment8. Secondaire on May 12, 2012 2:54 PM writes...
Hilarious! OMG. I remember reading a few old-timey preps that used things like "cracked gasoline" and "chips of clay plate". A labmate in grad school once proposed a synthesis with a McMurry coupling that involved a catalyst doped on wool. It wasn't well-received.
Permalink to Comment9. BRSM on May 12, 2012 3:30 PM writes...
@Secondaire just the other day I was reading one of R. B. Woodward's early papers which called for a Palladium-on-asbestos catalyst. That almost made the list but the original paper describing its use was in German, and not available online
Permalink to Comment10. leftscienceawhileago on May 12, 2012 7:43 PM writes...
Macromolecular crystallography is full of similar lore.
Here is a case of using diet coke for a time varying pH gradient:
http://www.mail-archive.com/ccp4bb@dl.ac.uk/msg00612.html
Permalink to Comment11. Anonymous on May 13, 2012 4:44 AM writes...
This is a little off the synthetic route, but we had a post doc in our lab who came from a lab that would calibrate their FT-ICR's (high res MS) with a bottle of guiness they kept in a fridge for years. It was a source of abundant polysaccharides over a large molecular weight range, and a cheaper "standard" than would you could be from anywhere else.
Permalink to Comment12. mmol on May 14, 2012 7:32 AM writes...
Labs are too often all about stick. It's time we had some carrot......... but it is important for high %ee that it is .......organic.
Permalink to Comment13. Sili on May 14, 2012 3:36 PM writes...
That's still in use. Referred to here as a "dead gull", since the prototypical porcelain is the petit bourgeois gull pattern. Permalink to Comment14. Secondaire on May 14, 2012 9:49 PM writes...
@ #9: Palladium on asbestos? Perfect for when those hydrogenations get wild on you!
@ #13. Never heard that before, cool. What's the dead gull used for?
Permalink to Comment15. Phil on May 17, 2012 1:00 PM writes...
Bengu Sezen could have gotten away with it if she'd thought of this! "The reaction was carried out in a bath of boiling mercury under a xenon atmosphere" would have discouraged attempts to repeat the work!
Permalink to Comment16. newnickname on May 18, 2012 12:22 PM writes...
I seem to recall that the earliest catalytic enantioselective hydrogenation was done using palladium on silk fiber ... in the 1930s.
There's an Org Synth that stipulates that the reaction be poured into a bucket of ice and stirred with a large wooden paddle. I can assure you that a magnet, a small teflon paddle, a piece of lattice rod and other lab stuff didn't work so it was a race down to the shop to cut out a wooden paddle on the band saw and save the reaction.
Permalink to Comment