4 ms·
The teaser line about ibuprofen synthesis is interesting because he didn't put enough "tease" into it for non-chemists to understand the kind of funny analogy.
by VLM 4y ago
The teaser line about ibuprofen synthesis is interesting because he didn't put enough "tease" into it for non-chemists to understand the kind of funny analogy. Superficially, one would not expect that a "green" synthesis would start with HF acid, but here it is anyway and it works. A "you gotta be kidding me" moment that makes sense after thinking about it.
I think that's the analogy he was trying to make in the article that only chemists would "get" about the innovation of chiral resolution, I have to admit the first time I read about that I was like "you gotta be kidding" but after thinking, it makes sense.
I'm trying to think of a similar "you gotta be kidding" in CS/IT, but its too early in the morning.
- photochemsyn 4y ago"Green synthesis" in chemistry should probably be renamed. "Closed-loop synthesis" is closer to what it's about. The fundamental concept is that you're not producing any waste products or unwanted side reactions, and all the reagents and catalysts are recycled back to their original state at the end of the reaction. This typically involves synthetic routes that start with small molecules and build larger molecules from them in a specific manner (rather than say, cleaving a large molecule and then having to throw away part of it as waste). With something highly reactive like HF acid, it might mean generating the HF from a fluoride salt, using it in the reaction, then converting any leftover HF back to the salt at then end of the process.
- VLM 4y agoI agree with you completely in a technical sense although greenwashing has become enough of a cultural icon that its hilarious to contemplate "watch me do something green" start with cracking open a container of HF, LOL.
- sitkack 4y agoThat layout has more of an impact on perf than -O3 to -O1?