Iain Smellie
@iainsmellie.bsky.social
Teaching Fellow in organic chemistry at the University of St Andrews. Big fan of flower, fruit and vegetables as pH indicators #Gardenindicators and https://youtube.com/@gardenindicators?si=jweZCz6YqE1Qbgd
Pickled Red Cabbage as a pH indicator!
YouTube video by Gardenindicators
youtu.be
May 9, 2026 at 10:50 AM
#gardenindicators has been around a while now. I’ve certainly learned a lot from it. @crocodilechemi1.bsky.social and @AlchemistAngus (not on Bsky) have put a huge amount of effort into reviewing some key uses of anthocyanins in teaching pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a... I can’t thank them enough!
Colourful chemistry of anthocyanins: a tutorial review of applications of anthocyanins in school and university teaching
The flowers, fruits and vegetables that we encounter in everyday life provide an opportunity for discussion of key chemistry concepts in school and university level chemistry. The rich variety of colo...
pubs.rsc.org
March 27, 2026 at 7:48 PM
#gardenindicators has been around a while now. I’ve certainly learned a lot from it. @crocodilechemi1.bsky.social and @AlchemistAngus (not on Bsky) have put a huge amount of effort into reviewing some key uses of anthocyanins in teaching pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a... I can’t thank them enough!
Just been to the supermarket and spotted some ready prepared red cabbage indicator #Gardenindicators
January 25, 2026 at 5:59 PM
Just been to the supermarket and spotted some ready prepared red cabbage indicator #Gardenindicators
Reposted by Iain Smellie
#gardenindicators in action: testing to see if our student’s soap is safe for the skin
#gardenindicators in print:
How to find acids with flowers: Robert Boyle’s ‘syrrup of violets’ and the chemistry of color indicators
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
#gardenindicators in print:
How to find acids with flowers: Robert Boyle’s ‘syrrup of violets’ and the chemistry of color indicators
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
November 7, 2025 at 12:33 PM
#gardenindicators in action: testing to see if our student’s soap is safe for the skin
#gardenindicators in print:
How to find acids with flowers: Robert Boyle’s ‘syrrup of violets’ and the chemistry of color indicators
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
#gardenindicators in print:
How to find acids with flowers: Robert Boyle’s ‘syrrup of violets’ and the chemistry of color indicators
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted by Iain Smellie
#gardenindicators in action
Here’s the recipe:
Holiday Synthesis: Cranberry Lime Pie
www.science.org
November 27, 2025 at 2:57 AM
#gardenindicators in action
Seasonal #Gardenindicators time. The bramble whiskies are ready! There’s a sweet one (made from Grants) and a more fiery one (made from famous grouse). Both tasty 🙂
November 30, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Seasonal #Gardenindicators time. The bramble whiskies are ready! There’s a sweet one (made from Grants) and a more fiery one (made from famous grouse). Both tasty 🙂
Reposted by Iain Smellie
Soap soap soap + cabbage indicators.
October 16, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Soap soap soap + cabbage indicators.
It isn’t all #Gardenindicators in our lab, we’ve been making our own phenolphthalein’s too. They are different colours and pleasingly, all worked well in an acid/base titration. #Chemsky
October 15, 2025 at 7:12 PM
It isn’t all #Gardenindicators in our lab, we’ve been making our own phenolphthalein’s too. They are different colours and pleasingly, all worked well in an acid/base titration. #Chemsky
Further tinned fruit results today, mixing the juice from tinned peaches with bramble extract gives a beautiful purple colour! The left glass contains a mixture of bramble juice, tinned peach juice and water. The right glass contains diluted bramble juice. #Gardenindicators #Chemsky
October 5, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Further tinned fruit results today, mixing the juice from tinned peaches with bramble extract gives a beautiful purple colour! The left glass contains a mixture of bramble juice, tinned peach juice and water. The right glass contains diluted bramble juice. #Gardenindicators #Chemsky
Reposted by Iain Smellie
🤩 amazing! Thank you Starbucks for raising the price of the passion tea to inspire my making it at home. This will be a fun addition to our exploration of mordants!
September 19, 2025 at 9:22 PM
🤩 amazing! Thank you Starbucks for raising the price of the passion tea to inspire my making it at home. This will be a fun addition to our exploration of mordants!
@manhattanscientist.bsky.social has inspired a nice #Gardenindicators experiment! The samples below, all contain Hibiscus tea. L to R, tea, tea with pineapple juice from a tin can, tea with acetic acid and tea with HCl. Those tin ions make a lovely purple complex with anthocyanins!
September 19, 2025 at 7:07 PM
@manhattanscientist.bsky.social has inspired a nice #Gardenindicators experiment! The samples below, all contain Hibiscus tea. L to R, tea, tea with pineapple juice from a tin can, tea with acetic acid and tea with HCl. Those tin ions make a lovely purple complex with anthocyanins!
Reposted by Iain Smellie
My colleague Marko Jeran turned me onto this electrolysis demonstration using our cabbage indicator.
#anthocyanin #redox #acidbase
#anthocyanin #redox #acidbase
September 19, 2025 at 12:59 AM
My colleague Marko Jeran turned me onto this electrolysis demonstration using our cabbage indicator.
#anthocyanin #redox #acidbase
#anthocyanin #redox #acidbase
This seems to becoming a tradition for the end of August. Bramble whisky round 2 now in progress. A double batch this time as well. #Gardenindicators I look forward to the end of November when they will be ready. One jar contains famous grouse, the other is grant’s triple wood blend. #chemsky
August 31, 2025 at 9:55 PM
This seems to becoming a tradition for the end of August. Bramble whisky round 2 now in progress. A double batch this time as well. #Gardenindicators I look forward to the end of November when they will be ready. One jar contains famous grouse, the other is grant’s triple wood blend. #chemsky
Plenty of beautiful
Hydrangeas around St Andrews now. Some will hopefully get used as #Gardenindicators in teaching next year.
Hydrangeas around St Andrews now. Some will hopefully get used as #Gardenindicators in teaching next year.
August 14, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Plenty of beautiful
Hydrangeas around St Andrews now. Some will hopefully get used as #Gardenindicators in teaching next year.
Hydrangeas around St Andrews now. Some will hopefully get used as #Gardenindicators in teaching next year.
One for any #Gardenindicators fans.
August 14, 2025 at 6:13 PM
One for any #Gardenindicators fans.
Anyone who has tried making naphtholphthalein will have encountered this compound at some point.
A recently accepted paper with @chemdudebrian.bsky.social and @iainsmellie.bsky.social in Molbank - doi.org/10.3390/M2007. It contains the structure of 3′H-spiro[dibenzo[c,h]xanthene-7,1′-isobenzofuran]-3′-one, first isolated in 1871 and identified in 1920. @StAndrewsChem
July 10, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Anyone who has tried making naphtholphthalein will have encountered this compound at some point.
Reposted by Iain Smellie
Happy hydrangeas!
May 31, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Happy hydrangeas!
It has been a while, but another #Gardenindicators video is now ready. This one shows a cheap and cheerful way to extract blackberries, works for raspberries too. youtu.be/HIV1Tgpa1-g?...
Anthocyanin Extraction: Blackberries (Brambles)
YouTube video by Gardenindicators
youtu.be
May 19, 2025 at 8:14 PM
It has been a while, but another #Gardenindicators video is now ready. This one shows a cheap and cheerful way to extract blackberries, works for raspberries too. youtu.be/HIV1Tgpa1-g?...
Reposted by Iain Smellie
Alright, this is an awesome experiment - complexation, solubility, indicator acid/base, it’s got everything!! pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
May 14, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Alright, this is an awesome experiment - complexation, solubility, indicator acid/base, it’s got everything!! pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
A colourful and quick experiment with tinned pineapple juice youtu.be/n62zByID52I?si…#Gardenindicatorsr#Snackindicatorsr#Chemskyky
Colour changing fruit juice from a tin can!
YouTube video by Gardenindicators
https://youtu.be/n62zByID52I?si…
March 11, 2025 at 7:03 AM
A colourful and quick experiment with tinned pineapple juice youtu.be/n62zByID52I?si…#Gardenindicatorsr#Snackindicatorsr#Chemskyky
I got a nice #Gardenindicators gift this week from
@AlchemistAngus. A can of crushed pineapple! The anthocyanins in blackberry extract can be used to detect dissolved tin(II) ions in the pineapple juice. The anthocyanin/tin complexes give a lovely purple colour! #Chemsky
@AlchemistAngus. A can of crushed pineapple! The anthocyanins in blackberry extract can be used to detect dissolved tin(II) ions in the pineapple juice. The anthocyanin/tin complexes give a lovely purple colour! #Chemsky
March 7, 2025 at 10:14 AM
I got a nice #Gardenindicators gift this week from
@AlchemistAngus. A can of crushed pineapple! The anthocyanins in blackberry extract can be used to detect dissolved tin(II) ions in the pineapple juice. The anthocyanin/tin complexes give a lovely purple colour! #Chemsky
@AlchemistAngus. A can of crushed pineapple! The anthocyanins in blackberry extract can be used to detect dissolved tin(II) ions in the pineapple juice. The anthocyanin/tin complexes give a lovely purple colour! #Chemsky
Reposted by Iain Smellie
This month #PeriodicGraphics in @cenmag.bsky.social is a whole decade old! To mark the anniversary, here's a graphic on some of the interesting properties and uses of tin, the metal that traditionally marks tenth anniversaries: cen.acs.org/materials/Pe...
#ChemSky 🧪
#ChemSky 🧪
December 23, 2024 at 9:18 PM
This month #PeriodicGraphics in @cenmag.bsky.social is a whole decade old! To mark the anniversary, here's a graphic on some of the interesting properties and uses of tin, the metal that traditionally marks tenth anniversaries: cen.acs.org/materials/Pe...
#ChemSky 🧪
#ChemSky 🧪
We’ve made a lot of phenolphthaleins this year, so here is a multiple phenolphthalein #Chemistree #OChemistree that uses many of the compounds we made. Also featuring an illuminated fluorescein bauble at the top. All planned and made by our lab office team! (not on this platform yet).
December 18, 2024 at 6:50 PM
We’ve made a lot of phenolphthaleins this year, so here is a multiple phenolphthalein #Chemistree #OChemistree that uses many of the compounds we made. Also featuring an illuminated fluorescein bauble at the top. All planned and made by our lab office team! (not on this platform yet).
In an earlier post I showed a range of colourful #Gardenindicators oxalis samples. bsky.app/profile/iain... Much later than I intended, I have finally managed to get the video version on YouTube! youtu.be/JoefItjibOY?....
December 16, 2024 at 7:33 AM
In an earlier post I showed a range of colourful #Gardenindicators oxalis samples. bsky.app/profile/iain... Much later than I intended, I have finally managed to get the video version on YouTube! youtu.be/JoefItjibOY?....
I tried a different type of #Gardenindicators experiment earlier this year. I started making bramble whisky in the late summer, this is the finished version after 3 months. Nice colour, quite a sweet taste, a bit like sloe gin. #Chemsky
December 15, 2024 at 4:14 PM
I tried a different type of #Gardenindicators experiment earlier this year. I started making bramble whisky in the late summer, this is the finished version after 3 months. Nice colour, quite a sweet taste, a bit like sloe gin. #Chemsky