Randomness

Randomness has somewhat disparate meanings as used in several different fields. It also has common meanings which may have loose connections with some of those more definite meanings

So to move on from Cemicals now let the new theam be decided by you................

yes you can now suggest any thean or topic on which you want the posts.....................

so GO RANDOM.

MEAN

MEAN

MEAN is definitely a mean molecule. It stands for monoethanolamine nitrate, which is an explosive used as a sensitiser in 'slurry explosives' (mixtures of ammonium nitrate, sodium nitrate, a gelling agent and water). Slurry explosives are sometimes used in mining and quarrying, but nowadays they are on various governments' watch-lists as potential terrorist weapons due to their ease of manufacture. I believe it's also used in small quantities as a fertiliser, and doesn't cost too much - so it's a favourite with mean gardeners.

Mucic Acid

Mucic Acid

Pronounced 'Music acid', this is quite different to Acid Music... This chemical is obtained by the nitric acid oxidation of milk sugar (lactose), dulcite, galactose, quercite and most varieties of gum. It is also called Galactaric Acid. The "mucic acid test" in basic biochemistry lab is a well-known test for D- or L-galactose. The test is carried out by oxidising the sample with concentrated nitric acid; mucic acid crystals will form after leaving the solution overnight. Isn't chemistry great? Just add some acid, and you get some music...

NanoPutian Molecules

NanoPutian Molecules

 

And today's award for the 'How did they possibly get a grant to do that?' paper, goes to the J. Org. Chem. article by Chanteau and Tour from Rice University in Texas. It concerns making anthropomorphic molecules - i.e. molecules that look like humans...but why anyone would want to do this I don't know... They have been named NanoPutians, after the little men from Lilliput in the book 'Gulliver's Travels'. They come in many forms - the basic building block is the NanoKid (shown right), and from this other variants can be made, such as NanoAthlete and NanoBaker.

 

Magic Acid

Magic Acid

'Magic Acid' is the name given to one of the strongest of the inorganic 'superacids'. It is made by mixing together antimony pentafluoride (SbF₅) and fluorosulphonic acid (HSO₃F), and it is so strong (pK_a = -20) that it is capable of protonating even saturated alkanes, like methane, to produce carbonium ions. On a similar name theme, Magic Factor-1 (derived from the acronym for Met-Activating Genetically Improved Chimeric Factor-1) is an engineered protein that helps keep certain cells alive and which may be used to treat muscular dystrophy. It's been shown to improve the running speed of mice which have previously had wasted leg muscles...magic indeed!

Performic Acid

Performic Acid

An actor's favourite chemical? As you might expect from a per-acid, it's a very strong oxidising agent, and always puts on a great per-formance!

Penguinone

Penguinone

This gets its name from the similarity of its 2D structure to a penguin. The effect is slightly lost in the 3D model, though. It's real name is: 3,4,4,5-tetramethylcyclohexa-2,5-dienone.

Angelic Acid

    Angelic Acid

Angelic acid isn't very angelic at all - it's a defence substance for certain beetles. It gets its name from the Swedish plant Garden Angelica (Archangelica officinalis) from whose roots it was first obtained in the 1840s. Its proper name is (Z)-2-methyl-2-butenoic acid. The other isomer (E) goes by the equally silly name of tiglic acid (from the plant Croton tiglium, the source of croton oil) and is also a beetle defence substance. 

Diabolic Acid

Diabolic Acid

Diabolic acids are actually a class of compounds where the m and n chains can have different lengths and can contain unsaturation. They were named after the Greek diabollo, meaning to mislead, since they were particularly difficult to isolate using standard gas chromatography techniques. One of the inventors, Prof Klein, also thought that they had 'horns like the devil'.

WINDOW PANE

Windowpane

 

Windowpane C₉H₁₂ gets its name from its resemblance to a set of windows, and is more accurately kown as fenestrane. But unfortunately it has never been synthesised. However, the version with a corner carbon missing C₈H₁₂ has been made, and goes by the name 'broken window'. Interestingly, a hypothetical derivative of windowpane has been suggested which includes a double bond, and this would of course be called Windowlene...