Tag Archives: chemistry

The periodic table of Twitter

Posted on January 24, 2013 by stu

So, you’re a chemist and you’ve finally decided to find out what all the fuss is about with this thing called Twitter. You decide to sign up, but, for whatever reason, you don’t fancy using your own name. Maybe an … Continue reading →

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My #overlyhonestmethods story

Posted on January 11, 2013 by stu

Single crystals suitable for X-ray crystallographic analysis were obtained when a solution of the salt in EtOAc/nC6H14/MeCN was allowed to stand at 20 °C for about 1 d. That sentence appears in the X-ray characterization section of only the second … Continue reading →

Posted in In the lab | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The life editorial (in brief)

Posted on October 22, 2012 by stu

With apologies to @BenchFly (who sent me a set of thought-provoking career-related questions a long time ago now — and I promise I will answer them at some point), here is a short post to take part in the #ChemCoach … Continue reading →

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Where I’ve been (in the name of SCIENCE!)

Posted on August 11, 2012 by stu

I’m not quite sure who started the whole #sciencenomads thing on Twitter (I think either @Chemjobber or @SeeArrOh), but it got me thinking about all the places I’ve visited/worked because of SCIENCE! Sure, if I’d never got into chemistry (or … Continue reading →

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The value of PR stunts?

Posted on November 16, 2011 by stu

I’ve been a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) for many years now; I think I’m coming up on my 15th year. The RSC does a lot of good things — and I know many people who work … Continue reading →

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Make-or-break chemistry

Posted on September 22, 2011 by stu

When I told Rachel that I would write something for the favourite chemical reactions #chemcarnival being organized by C&EN, I started thinking about the reactions I did during my career at the bench (undergrad, PhD, and postdoc). My least favourite … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnivals, In the lab | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Drawing conclusions

Posted on September 12, 2011 by stu

How do you draw your benzene rings? No, not how do they look when you’re finished, but what are the motions you go through when you put pen to paper? And I do mean pen to paper, obviously drawing benzene … Continue reading →

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The smallest chiral hydrocarbon?

Posted on September 9, 2011 by stu

Last week I posed the following question: What is the lowest molecular weight hydrocarbon that is chiral? (A couple of restrictions — isotopes don’t count, so no deuterium or 13C, and no conformational stereoisomers, I’m looking for stable enantiomers at … Continue reading →

Posted in Fun, Quiz time! | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Pop quiz #1

Posted on September 2, 2011 by stu

In my former life I taught organic chemistry — sometimes to classes of 300. A significant fraction of the students were ‘pre-med’ which for those of you who don’t know, roughly translates as, ‘I couldn’t give a crap about chemistry, … Continue reading →

Posted in Fun, Quiz time! | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

Insight story

Posted on August 23, 2011 by stu

And breathe. Closing issues of Nature Chemistry can sometimes be a bit frantic – and the just-published September issue was a little more of a challenge than usual. In addition to the usual types of content (research articles, reviews, research … Continue reading →

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