British Science Week: Ridiculously named molecules you didn't know existed!
It’s #wackywednesday here at Developing Experts!
To continue our series of Science Week blogs, today we’re talking all about the weird and wonderful world of molecules. Whilst we’re all about effective science teaching and ensuring that students are gaining the science skills and knowledge they need for their future, we also love to encourage FUN science!
In this blog, we’re sharing some of our favourite weirdly- named molecules and the science behind them. Firstly, the animal inspired:
Penguinone - One of our favourite here in the Developing Experts office is Penguinone. Penguinone gets its name from the similarity of its 2D structure to, you guessed it... a penguin! The effect is slightly lost in the 3D model, though. Penguione’s systematic name is :3,4,4,5-tetramethylcyclohexa-2,5-dienone.
Dogcollarane - Dogcollaranes are a group of molecules made from alternating bicyclo [2,2,0] and norbornyl segments. When there are 24 such components, the ends can be linked together to form a ring, which looks like a dogcollar.
Pigeonite - Pigeonite is a silicate mineral named after Pigeon Point in Minnesota where it was first found. Pigeonite forms dark green crystals that are found in volcanic rocks on Earth and in meteorites from Mars or the Moon.
Four letter fun:
DEAD - DEAD is actually the acronym for diethyl azodicarboxylate, which is an important reagent in the well-known Mitsunobu reaction which performs a stereospecific conversion of an alcohol to a primary amine. DEAD is an orange liquid that's explosive, shock sensitive, light sensitive, toxic, and a possible carcinogen or mutagen, and an eye, skin and respiratory irritant. Sounds dangerous, hey?
DAMN - DAMN is the acronym for diaminomaleonitrile, which is a particularly nasty molecule containing lots of cyanide groups. Damn.
TACO - Sadly not the tasty treat but a scaffold which can be used to help build synthetic receptors. The TAC part comes from TriAzaCyclophane, while the O is because it's O-alkylated.
SnOT - Tritiated tin hydroxide goes by the wonderful chemical formula of SnOT. David Ball, a chemist from Ohio, was working on isotopomers of SnOH, and after tritiating it found he got SnOT.
The bizarre:
Draculin - Blood sucking molecules? Draculin is the anticoagulant factor in vampire bat saliva. It is a large glycoprotein made from a sequence of 411 amino acids.
Skunky Thiol - This molecule is what makes beer taste bad after it's been left exposed to sunlight for a prolonged period of time. The actual name is 3-methylbut-2-ene-1-thiol, or 3-MBT for short, but since it's related to molecules found in skunk spray, and it stinks, it's also known as skunky thiol.
So, there is some #wackywednesday science week fun to share with your class. Why not use this blog as a starter activity in your next science class?
See the rest of our science week blogs here: