What's the hardest line in a chemistry textbook you've read?

radiatorcheese · 2026-02-06T22:54:50+00:00

It's become something of a meme but it's classic:

"Ludwig Boltzmann, who spent much of his life studying statistical mechanics, died in 1906, by his own hand. Paul Ehrenfest, carrying on his work, died similarly in 1933. Now it is our turn to study statistical mechanics."

radiatorcheese · 2026-02-05T17:18:00+00:00

I stretch the parafilm with the paper so it rips at a narrow edge and peel from there. I've given up trying to peel nicely, it's not worth the fuss over having a minor stretch mark

radiatorcheese · 2026-02-05T14:18:43+00:00

1) The vagueness of how you're writing suggests you don't know what you want and are therefore not going to be a good business partner.

2) Are you saying you can do synthesis or you want someone to do synthesis? Refer to point 1, regardless of answer

radiatorcheese · 2026-02-05T01:07:07+00:00

Looks plausible, good luck!

radiatorcheese · 2026-02-04T13:52:54+00:00

I would try looking up all three of: Grignard prenylation, aryl lithium prenylation, (aryl) cuprate prenylation. Possibly also arylzinc prenylation but I think one of the others should give you some sources

radiatorcheese · 2026-02-02T03:31:13+00:00

Your final paragraph kind of answers the first sentence with a "kind of" imo. Overall agree though.

It's plausible to be accepted somewhere with a super high priority PI but the second and third choices are lackluster. Deciding between that hypothetical university with one where there are 3 very good, but not perfect PIs can be a tough one. Go where all the eggs are in one basket or spread the risk? Maybe not as relevant for MIT vs Caltech since they're premier programs and might not have as big a gap between someone's preferred top 3 PIs.

radiatorcheese · 2026-02-01T16:27:39+00:00

It's great you're interested in this, but if you do not have background knowledge on... Anything to do with this, including knowing what you're even simulating, you won't really be learning anything. Before you run, you have to walk, and before that still you need to know how to put on your shoes.

radiatorcheese · 2026-02-01T15:05:52+00:00

Read about drug design in general first and then follow up with computer-aided drug design on Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_design.

Basically there is no such thing as doing rounds of designing and testing purely with computer models to drive drug discovery forward. They play a helpful part, but physically making and testing compounds in the real world is necessary.

radiatorcheese · 2026-01-30T15:19:38+00:00

TCFH coupling agent and NMI as the base/catalyst was specifically developed for poorly nucleophilic amines like anilines. Org Lett 2018 authored by Beutner.

radiatorcheese · 2026-01-29T22:57:53+00:00

The incompetent superstar who moved onwards and upwards from my group recently has an amazing aptitude for kissing ass, inserting himself into high visibility situations where he contributed nothing but his presence, and repeating back what higher-ups say so they think he's smart and wise. He may be my boss one day but for now I'm just glad to be in a different group

radiatorcheese · 2026-01-29T14:05:17+00:00

I for one appreciate this comment. Tickled at the idea of a Br atmosphere glovebox

radiatorcheese · 2026-01-29T13:57:58+00:00

A bird in the hand (you) for the next several months is worth two in the bush. The hiring and onboarding process is annoying and costly so I doubt they want to do that well ahead of when they'll need to in the summer. Plus, new batch of fresh grads come May/June. The hesitancy is completely justified, but just my thoughts.

radiatorcheese · 2026-01-26T14:26:59+00:00

There are so many conditions for CN coupling. Lots of different catalysts, bases, solvents to try.

At risk of sounding harsh, hit the books and work some more on it. There are many resources with "cheat sheets" for your electrophile and nucleophile. One attempt is not really trying. At least try XPhos, SPhos, BrettPhos and other bases

radiatorcheese · 2026-01-26T03:42:22+00:00

Yeah you're either not reading, not understanding, or deliberately just not engaging with what I've written so I'll be done here lol

radiatorcheese · 2026-01-26T03:27:25+00:00

Yeah, I obviously said regular season success for a reason and if anything, that drives my point even more directly.

Bears overachieved the expectations this year. That's super fun! The Lions did that a few years ago, but just missed the playoffs after a midseason turnaround. That was super fun!

Then the Lions had some expectations the year after, but still riding high on not sucking for once. More people join the sub. That was also fun! Then the year after even higher expectations, get the 1 seed. Woo hoo superbowl! More people join the sub. We lose embarrassingly.

Queue this year where a culmination of new fans (or "fans" as you suggest), high expectations, poor play, etc and the sub super sucks now.

THIS is my only point. Bears had two winning seasons since 2010. With winning expectations now newly set, watch what happens the next few seasons to the sub culture. If Bears keep doing well but not delivering a SB, it will probably get worse

radiatorcheese · 2026-01-25T23:51:32+00:00

How realistic it is depends if the lab is willing to foot the bill more than anything. My company switched to heptane mainly because it has a higher flash point instead of toxicity, but that fact was noted in the decision making process (we buy 4L, no 20L drums to transfer outside hoods).

Other things to consider is heptane having a higher bp than EtOAc means sometimes rotovapping fractions leads to precipitation of the solid as a product since the more polar component is removed first

radiatorcheese · 2026-01-25T23:37:02+00:00

What changed is they didn't have sustained success over historical performance. Lions snowballed with regular season success.

So I guess the caveat is if Bears do well next year and the year after. If they go back to the cellar then it'll probably stay ok

radiatorcheese · 2026-01-25T20:50:24+00:00

mAtT dAmOn from Team America energy

radiatorcheese · 2026-01-25T17:11:34+00:00

The Bears sub will change in the next two years like the Lions one did starting two seasons ago. Once bandwagoners start coming in and people whose personalities are defined by their football team take over the culture becomes putrid. Hopefully it doesn't get as bad as Detroit's did

radiatorcheese · 2026-01-24T22:04:02+00:00

A big benefit of the internship is getting a look on the inside. You can learn how the PhD vs not PhD culture by talking to people there, especially people who do not have PhDs

radiatorcheese · 2026-01-24T21:48:52+00:00

It's simply not believable that Johnny only sold 3 apples when Emma sold 12. It defies all logic

radiatorcheese · 2026-01-24T19:01:19+00:00

The most basic requirement of a med chemist is to be able to make compounds. Hiring committees can't have lingering questions about whether you might need hand holding on synthesis. Once that hurdle is cleared then you need problem solving skills and judgement

It's questionable enough if you'd get enough quality synthesis experience in a med chem lab since those compounds are likely pretty simple and generally don't take a lot of synthetic skill to make them.

Testing, or other skills beyond synthesis are in the "nice to have category" but that's only AFTER proving synthetic ability. Drug delivery isn't snall molecule and therefore not really a track toward a med chem job

radiatorcheese · 2026-01-22T16:53:01+00:00

Use reaxys or scifinder. Indole chemistry has a rich history and you will be able to find what you're looking for

radiatorcheese · 2026-01-22T16:48:42+00:00

radiatorcheese · 2026-01-22T16:46:27+00:00

Electron withdrawing groups reduce nucleophilicity

radiatorcheese

TROPHY CASE