BRIGHTMAN UNIVERSITY
Not for real!
It's a fictional university in the real state of Kansas, fictionally founded by a fictional woman named Eliza Brightman. Ironically, she was said to be quite dim.
It's a fictional university in the real state of Kansas, fictionally founded by a fictional woman named Eliza Brightman. Ironically, she was said to be quite dim.
ENANTIOMERS
For real!
Absolutely, they’re real, and they’re important. Most modern molecular targets have one or more points of asymmetry (thumbs, if you will), called stereocenters. Chemists doing synthesis work hard to get those stereocenters right. While it’s rare that the biological effects of two enantiomers are dramatically different, they can be! For example, one enantiomer of Dopa (dihydroxy-3,4-phenylalanine) is used to treat Parkinson's Disease, while the other can cause headaches, abdominal pains, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness.
Absolutely, they’re real, and they’re important. Most modern molecular targets have one or more points of asymmetry (thumbs, if you will), called stereocenters. Chemists doing synthesis work hard to get those stereocenters right. While it’s rare that the biological effects of two enantiomers are dramatically different, they can be! For example, one enantiomer of Dopa (dihydroxy-3,4-phenylalanine) is used to treat Parkinson's Disease, while the other can cause headaches, abdominal pains, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness.
The two isomers of "Zeti" shown as mirror images. The dark wedges are coming toward you while the dashed ones are going away. If you flip the one on the left in your head to try to overlap with the one on the right, you see that they're not the same, or non-superimposable. Enantiomers are defined as non-superimposable mirror images.
ZETI
Not for real--but could be!
I was not able to find any evidence that anyone has ever made 9-phenyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1,3-epiminonaphthalene, which Kyra nicknames Zeti. However, it is a legitimate chemical structure. In fact, the cover design of Enantiomer is derived from it. The structure really does have a four-membered ring made of three carbons and one nitrogen, which really is called an azetidine ring.
Why pick this structure for the story? Several reasons. First, I expect it would be very difficult to synthesize, which makes it less likely that some super-nerd will run into lab and make it on a lark after reading the book, snort it, and sue me when they get brain cancer or something. Second, if someone found a way to make it in one pot, she probably would get some significant academic accolades. But working out the details for a reaction like that would be somewhere between ridiculously hard and impossible. So, perfect for a fiction novel. Third, it is chiral. It is never likely to become a textbook example of a chiral molecule, but it has no plane or axis of symmetry. It has a thumb. Fourth, it has the signature substructure present in many opioids (called a phenethylamine substructure--it's highlighted in red below). Fentanyl has it. Methamphetamine has it. Morphine, oxycodone, heroin? Yep, yep, and yep. And “zeti” has it too, so it’s reasonable to expect it could get you high. Or maybe it would kill you. I doubt any of us will ever find out for sure.
I was not able to find any evidence that anyone has ever made 9-phenyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1,3-epiminonaphthalene, which Kyra nicknames Zeti. However, it is a legitimate chemical structure. In fact, the cover design of Enantiomer is derived from it. The structure really does have a four-membered ring made of three carbons and one nitrogen, which really is called an azetidine ring.
Why pick this structure for the story? Several reasons. First, I expect it would be very difficult to synthesize, which makes it less likely that some super-nerd will run into lab and make it on a lark after reading the book, snort it, and sue me when they get brain cancer or something. Second, if someone found a way to make it in one pot, she probably would get some significant academic accolades. But working out the details for a reaction like that would be somewhere between ridiculously hard and impossible. So, perfect for a fiction novel. Third, it is chiral. It is never likely to become a textbook example of a chiral molecule, but it has no plane or axis of symmetry. It has a thumb. Fourth, it has the signature substructure present in many opioids (called a phenethylamine substructure--it's highlighted in red below). Fentanyl has it. Methamphetamine has it. Morphine, oxycodone, heroin? Yep, yep, and yep. And “zeti” has it too, so it’s reasonable to expect it could get you high. Or maybe it would kill you. I doubt any of us will ever find out for sure.
The red part of Zeti is a phenethylamine substructure. Walter White would be proud.
MUISHEN AND GUSHENONE
Not for real!
While there are some Chinese herbs sold as tinnitus treatments (e.g., danshen), I can't say how well they work, so I made one up, Muishen. Gushenone is also made up, sadly. (I have constant tinnitus, and it sucks.) However, the idea of learning about medicinal problems from natural products, synthesizing their active ingredients, and developing those into drugs is a common theme in organic chemistry research. Two of the most famous successes from this kind of approach are aspirin (from willow bark) and penicillin (from a fungus).
While there are some Chinese herbs sold as tinnitus treatments (e.g., danshen), I can't say how well they work, so I made one up, Muishen. Gushenone is also made up, sadly. (I have constant tinnitus, and it sucks.) However, the idea of learning about medicinal problems from natural products, synthesizing their active ingredients, and developing those into drugs is a common theme in organic chemistry research. Two of the most famous successes from this kind of approach are aspirin (from willow bark) and penicillin (from a fungus).
TABYOOLEE
For real!
Yes, many synthesis labs use t-butyllithium, and yes, it is extremely pyrophoric. Without mentioning any names, I have seen it squirted out the end of a syringe needle into a fume hood, and it looks like a miniature flamethrower. I don’t know how many people really call it “tabyoolee,” but I've heard it a few times. The more common isomer, n-butyllithium, is often nicknamed “byoolee.” And yes, I've used both--you just have to take precautions and use proper techniques.
Of course, someone made a Youtube video to show what can happen if you're not careful.
Yes, many synthesis labs use t-butyllithium, and yes, it is extremely pyrophoric. Without mentioning any names, I have seen it squirted out the end of a syringe needle into a fume hood, and it looks like a miniature flamethrower. I don’t know how many people really call it “tabyoolee,” but I've heard it a few times. The more common isomer, n-butyllithium, is often nicknamed “byoolee.” And yes, I've used both--you just have to take precautions and use proper techniques.
Of course, someone made a Youtube video to show what can happen if you're not careful.
MAE'S POLARIMETER
For real!
Want to know whether your sunglasses have polarizing lenses? Hold them between your eye and a white computer screen, and see for yourself. It's simple to rotate them and see your light computer screen turn dark, as you can see in the two pictures below.
Want to know whether your sunglasses have polarizing lenses? Hold them between your eye and a white computer screen, and see for yourself. It's simple to rotate them and see your light computer screen turn dark, as you can see in the two pictures below.
In both of the pictures below, the beaker on the left holds pure water, and the one on the right is slightly diluted corn syrup. The sugars in corn syrup are chiral. Each of the beakers is wrapped in cardboard to minimize stray light. The white background is my laptop computer screen showing a blank PowerPoint slide in presentation mode. The one on the right is not as dark due to rotation of polarized light by the chiral sugars. (Lenses were removed from the sunglasses for convenience. And, yes, don't worry, I was able to pop them back in.)
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ASTER'S MICROPLASTICS INFORMATION
For real!
All true. For those interested, these are the full references of the papers that Aster mentions:
1. Chemical Degradation of Plastic: “Degradation Rates of Plastics in the Environment” Ali Chamas, Hyunjin Moon, Jiajia Zheng, Yang Qiu, Tarnuma Tabassum, Jun Hee Jang, Mahdi Abu-Omar, Susannah L. Scott, and Sangwon Suh; ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering 2020 8 (9), 3494-3511. DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b06635.
2. Microplastics from Washing Machines: Bethanie M. Carney Almroth, Linn Åström, Sofia Roslund, Hanna Petersson, Mats Johansson, Nils-Krister Persson; Environ Sci Pollut Res (2018) 25:1191–1199. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-0528-7.
3. List of Microplastic Sources: Wang, Y.-L., et al. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21, 1727.
4. Over Ninety Percent of Oceanic “Microplastics” are Materials Like Wool and Cotton: Giuseppe Suaria, Aikaterini Achtypi, Vonica Perold, Jasmine R. Lee, Andrea Pierucci, Thomas G. Bornman, Stefano Aliani, Peter G. Ryan; Sci. Adv. 2020; 6: eaay8493, 5 June 2020.
5. Microplastics from Dryers: “Microfibers Released into the Air from a Household Tumble Dryer” Danyang Tao, Kai Zhang, Shaopeng Xu, Huiju Lin, Yuan Liu, Jingliang Kang, Tszewai Yim, John P. Giesy, and Kenneth M. Y. Leung; Environmental Science & Technology Letters 2022 9 (2), 120-126; DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00911.
6. No scientific demonstration of ocean microplastics forming from plastic pieces. The closest I could find was this report, which describes how plastic pieces become brittle as they chemically oxidize when on a beach (not in the ocean) and could crumble and wash out to the ocean as microplastics. Andrady, A.L. Marine Pollution Bulletin 62 (2011) 1596–1605.
7. Trillions of Ads: I couldn’t find any rock-solid scientific studies on total ad exposure; estimates range from about 100 to 10,000 per person per day in the US; the lower end seems more believable to me. But Aster is comparing to global annual production of plastic, so the relevant number is global annual exposure of ads, which is only one every three days for 8 billion people to get to a trillion. If we all get 100 ads/day, that’s close to 300 trillion cumulative global ad exposures per year. So, Aster's comment was a conservative estimate.
All true. For those interested, these are the full references of the papers that Aster mentions:
1. Chemical Degradation of Plastic: “Degradation Rates of Plastics in the Environment” Ali Chamas, Hyunjin Moon, Jiajia Zheng, Yang Qiu, Tarnuma Tabassum, Jun Hee Jang, Mahdi Abu-Omar, Susannah L. Scott, and Sangwon Suh; ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering 2020 8 (9), 3494-3511. DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b06635.
2. Microplastics from Washing Machines: Bethanie M. Carney Almroth, Linn Åström, Sofia Roslund, Hanna Petersson, Mats Johansson, Nils-Krister Persson; Environ Sci Pollut Res (2018) 25:1191–1199. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-0528-7.
3. List of Microplastic Sources: Wang, Y.-L., et al. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21, 1727.
4. Over Ninety Percent of Oceanic “Microplastics” are Materials Like Wool and Cotton: Giuseppe Suaria, Aikaterini Achtypi, Vonica Perold, Jasmine R. Lee, Andrea Pierucci, Thomas G. Bornman, Stefano Aliani, Peter G. Ryan; Sci. Adv. 2020; 6: eaay8493, 5 June 2020.
5. Microplastics from Dryers: “Microfibers Released into the Air from a Household Tumble Dryer” Danyang Tao, Kai Zhang, Shaopeng Xu, Huiju Lin, Yuan Liu, Jingliang Kang, Tszewai Yim, John P. Giesy, and Kenneth M. Y. Leung; Environmental Science & Technology Letters 2022 9 (2), 120-126; DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00911.
6. No scientific demonstration of ocean microplastics forming from plastic pieces. The closest I could find was this report, which describes how plastic pieces become brittle as they chemically oxidize when on a beach (not in the ocean) and could crumble and wash out to the ocean as microplastics. Andrady, A.L. Marine Pollution Bulletin 62 (2011) 1596–1605.
7. Trillions of Ads: I couldn’t find any rock-solid scientific studies on total ad exposure; estimates range from about 100 to 10,000 per person per day in the US; the lower end seems more believable to me. But Aster is comparing to global annual production of plastic, so the relevant number is global annual exposure of ads, which is only one every three days for 8 billion people to get to a trillion. If we all get 100 ads/day, that’s close to 300 trillion cumulative global ad exposures per year. So, Aster's comment was a conservative estimate.
The sample on the left was taken from my dryer lint filter, and the sample on the right was taken from the air duct behind it. Microplastics are defined as particles less than 5 millimeters (seems like they should be <1 mm like everything else "micro," but the scientific literature is consistent with the <5 mm definition), so lint is well within that definition. If we really want to cut down on microplastics in our oceans, we should insist on better filters in our washers and dryers, rather than making up stories about plastic pieces turning into microplastics.
KYRA'S AL-EDTA IDEA
For real! (as a scientific uncertainty)
I intentionally left this question unanswered because that's how experimental science works--there are always more questions than time to answer them. Would it work? It's theoretically possible, but no one is likely to try it because there are much easier and more effective ways available--for chemists who aren't relying on raiding chemical storerooms for their reagents, anyway. If you really want to know the details, the structures and reactions are shown below.
I intentionally left this question unanswered because that's how experimental science works--there are always more questions than time to answer them. Would it work? It's theoretically possible, but no one is likely to try it because there are much easier and more effective ways available--for chemists who aren't relying on raiding chemical storerooms for their reagents, anyway. If you really want to know the details, the structures and reactions are shown below.
Ethylenediamine-tetraacetic acid (EDTA) reaction with aluminum chloride to make an enantiomeric pair of chiral acids, Al(EDTA)-H. EDTA is known to wrap around metal atoms (called chelating) to form metal complexes like this. They're usually chiral.
Reaction of the enantiomeric pair of acids with the enantiomeric pair of Zeti bases yields four distinct products, essentially A-A, A-B, B-A, and B-B (chemists would say R-R, R-S, S-R and S-S, for no really good reason). They are all [Zeti-H][Al(EDTA)], but each has a unique configuration of atoms (stereochemistry). The big question for Kyra (and Stu) is whether she can find crystallization conditions to get just one of the four to crystallize out in pure form. It's theoretically possible, but probably not very practical.