mattodd
commented
9 years ago Hi @ErinSheridan and @TrentWallis - Conor's proof-read is meant for your guys! Can you alert them to it?
Open ConorGraham opened 9 years ago
mattodd
commented
9 years ago Hi @ErinSheridan and @TrentWallis - Conor's proof-read is meant for your guys! Can you alert them to it?
Hey guys, My name is Conor Graham, I graduated from SGS in 2013. I'm currently studying chemistry and pharmacology at USyd, and I came across your research in one of Professor Todd's lectures. You guys are doing some really exciting stuff, way cooler than when we made wine in science club when I was there (Although that was fun too, but not nearly as important as your research.) I asked the Professor if you guys needed a hand, so I'm going to help do some proof-reading, and I'll make some suggestions here and there as to how you can make your reports look more publishable and science-y.We can talk about it here, but it'd be cool to add new information back into the original lab notebook entry to wrap that up.
The Main purpose of a scientific report is so some random chemist somewhere in the world can replicate your experiment, and hopefully get the same results (although different results can be exciting too). For example, take your report on the synthesis of (E)-2-chloro-6-(2-(pyridine-2-ylmethylene)hyrdazinyl)pyrazine.
http://malaria.ourexperiment.org/triazolopyrazine_se/11222/Synthesis_of_E2chloro62pyridine2ylmethylenehydrazinylpyrazine_SGS_41.html
As some random chemist you likely haven’t met, I’d have some difficulties replicating your experiment based on what I've been given:
“SGS 1-1 (1.06 g, 7.33 mmol) was stirred into MeCN (15 mL). 2-Pyridinecarboxaldehyde (0.77 g, 7.2 mmol) and AcOH (0.4 mL) were added to the mixture. This reaction mixture was then stirred at room temperature overnight.”
What is SGS 1-1? Can you link back to where you made it? Could you describe the product? What am I meant to be looking for, a dry white powder? A black liquid? Pink fairy floss? I want to be reasonably sure that what I’ve made is similar to what you made. If you say you made a clear liquid, but I end up with black powder, I know something’s gone wrong. And how much did you get?
With regards to your TLC plate photo, what am I looking at? Firstly, I think the photo might be upside down. Secondly, what is in each lane? Based on your TLC, how do you know what you think happened, actually happened? Lastly do you have a conclusion from this experiment - did you get what you wanted? Did you take this stuff on to another experiment?
Still great work guys, the most complex thing I’ve synthesized at uni is benzoic acid, and here you are, creating some potentially life saving molecules before you even have an ATAR. Fantastic work from all of you, up SGS, we have a gym and a library.
Cheers,
Conor