I was away for a conference for a weekend. Got back, ran a reaction, did an EtOAc/hexanes recryst. But nothing crashed out on cooling. And the hexanes were really tough to rotovap off for a second attempt.
A first year had filled my hexanes squirt bottle with toluene.
A first year had filled my hexanes squirt bottle with toluene.
Fellow chemists, scientists, and lab rats,
Next semester, my Crime Scene Chemistry class is focusing on miscommunication.
Do you have any stories about improperly labeled items in the lab that led to confusion or an accident?
Next semester, my Crime Scene Chemistry class is focusing on miscommunication.
Do you have any stories about improperly labeled items in the lab that led to confusion or an accident?
December 5, 2025 at 9:37 PM
I was away for a conference for a weekend. Got back, ran a reaction, did an EtOAc/hexanes recryst. But nothing crashed out on cooling. And the hexanes were really tough to rotovap off for a second attempt.
A first year had filled my hexanes squirt bottle with toluene.
A first year had filled my hexanes squirt bottle with toluene.
We get common solvents filled from drums in stores. Students got hexanes refilled. Used some to rinse Na from oil. Noticed Na was floating and fizzing. Got it TF out of there. Density of “hexanes” seemed high. Turns out they were given dichloromethane instead. Whoops!
December 4, 2025 at 1:27 AM
We get common solvents filled from drums in stores. Students got hexanes refilled. Used some to rinse Na from oil. Noticed Na was floating and fizzing. Got it TF out of there. Density of “hexanes” seemed high. Turns out they were given dichloromethane instead. Whoops!
In Preparation about $0.25/gallon hexanes when
The White House launched 25 Freedom Fuel gas stations, all selling fuel at $3.47 a gallon.
White House launches 25 Freedom Fuel gas stations in this region
The White House launched gas stations, it announced on July 7, but the prices aren't much lower than the national average. See where they're located.
bit.ly
July 9, 2026 at 4:40 AM
In Preparation about $0.25/gallon hexanes when
e.g. a 20L drum of hexanes has gone from $75 to $360. A 4x4L case of DMF has gone from $290 to $720. 20L of acetone went from $54 to $263. They're not actually a big fraction of our underlying costs, but the jumps are huge.
April 23, 2026 at 11:11 PM
e.g. a 20L drum of hexanes has gone from $75 to $360. A 4x4L case of DMF has gone from $290 to $720. 20L of acetone went from $54 to $263. They're not actually a big fraction of our underlying costs, but the jumps are huge.
Had to update my TLC solvent strength converter to be more accurate after teaching CHM312! Now true to mole fraction like Skoog intended haha
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Effective TLC Solvent Strength Translator - Corrected Eluotropic series
Sheet1
Approximate Solvent Strength of Binary Mixtures (Listed with column headers such that (A/B))
% Component B in A,A: Hexanes/B:EtOAc,Hexanes/Et2O,Hexanes/Toluene,Hexanes/iPrOH,Hexanes/Acetone,D...
docs.google.com
January 17, 2024 at 11:25 PM
Had to update my TLC solvent strength converter to be more accurate after teaching CHM312! Now true to mole fraction like Skoog intended haha
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
I would probably have said hexanes (sorry @bagphos.bsky.social) but I basically love toluene these days - it's cheap, it works, it's available
Favorite non-polar solvents. Organic and inorganic.
June 5, 2026 at 3:36 AM
I would probably have said hexanes (sorry @bagphos.bsky.social) but I basically love toluene these days - it's cheap, it works, it's available
this is the liquor I tried in China; it tastes like what I imagine hexanes to be
January 14, 2026 at 1:44 AM
this is the liquor I tried in China; it tastes like what I imagine hexanes to be
🥓 🛢️ ☠️ on en parle tout à l'heure sur @auposte.fr ! www.linforme.com/grande-conso... #nitrites #hexanes @foodwatchfr.bsky.social @greenpeace.fr @edladecouverte.bsky.social
November 18, 2025 at 2:10 PM
🥓 🛢️ ☠️ on en parle tout à l'heure sur @auposte.fr ! www.linforme.com/grande-conso... #nitrites #hexanes @foodwatchfr.bsky.social @greenpeace.fr @edladecouverte.bsky.social
Enantioselective photocatalytic synthesis of bicyclo[2.1.1]hexanes as ortho-disubstituted benzene bioisosteres with improved biological activity, from Mariola Tortosa, Thomas Rigotti, and their team:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#chemsky
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#chemsky
Enantioselective photocatalytic synthesis of bicyclo[2.1.1]hexanes as ortho-disubstituted benzene bioisosteres with improved biological activity - Nature Chemistry
The incorporation of saturated bioisosteres of phenyl rings has emerged as an appealing strategy in drug-discovery programmes. However, stereocontrolled access to these sp3-hybridized skeletons remain...
www.nature.com
February 26, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Enantioselective photocatalytic synthesis of bicyclo[2.1.1]hexanes as ortho-disubstituted benzene bioisosteres with improved biological activity, from Mariola Tortosa, Thomas Rigotti, and their team:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#chemsky
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#chemsky
cooking is miserable I don't like working on presentation i wish i could just recrystallize my salad from hexanes or some shit
September 29, 2025 at 6:20 AM
cooking is miserable I don't like working on presentation i wish i could just recrystallize my salad from hexanes or some shit
Now online:
Article by Thomas Rigotti, Mariola Tortosa & co-workers
Enantioselective synthesis of 1,3-bicyclo[2.1.1]hexanes as meta-benzene bioisosteres
www.nature.com/articles/s44... ($)
#Chemsky
Article by Thomas Rigotti, Mariola Tortosa & co-workers
Enantioselective synthesis of 1,3-bicyclo[2.1.1]hexanes as meta-benzene bioisosteres
www.nature.com/articles/s44... ($)
#Chemsky
Enantioselective synthesis of 1,3-bicyclo[2.1.1]hexanes as meta-benzene bioisosteres - Nature Synthesis
Bicyclo[2.1.1]hexanes are established bioisosteres for phenyl rings, yet the access to single enantiomers remains challenging. Here an enantioselective copper-catalysed protoborylation is reported, en...
www.nature.com
April 23, 2026 at 10:54 AM
Now online:
Article by Thomas Rigotti, Mariola Tortosa & co-workers
Enantioselective synthesis of 1,3-bicyclo[2.1.1]hexanes as meta-benzene bioisosteres
www.nature.com/articles/s44... ($)
#Chemsky
Article by Thomas Rigotti, Mariola Tortosa & co-workers
Enantioselective synthesis of 1,3-bicyclo[2.1.1]hexanes as meta-benzene bioisosteres
www.nature.com/articles/s44... ($)
#Chemsky
Where does a guy get some hexanes when he needs it… it’s so useful around the house 😩
April 20, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Where does a guy get some hexanes when he needs it… it’s so useful around the house 😩
It’s a misunderstanding of the processing…they think there are hexanes in the oil, and a bunch of other nonsense, it’s really just dumb and boring.
March 8, 2025 at 10:09 PM
It’s a misunderstanding of the processing…they think there are hexanes in the oil, and a bunch of other nonsense, it’s really just dumb and boring.
Thrilled to share this fantastic work with M. Tortosa just published in @naturechemistry.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Enantioselective photocatalytic synthesis of bicyclo[2.1.1]hexanes as ortho-disubstituted benzene bioisosteres with improved biological activity - Nature Chemistry
The incorporation of saturated bioisosteres of phenyl rings has emerged as an appealing strategy in drug-discovery programmes. However, stereocontrolled access to these sp3-hybridized skeletons remain...
www.nature.com
February 25, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Thrilled to share this fantastic work with M. Tortosa just published in @naturechemistry.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
that is 33vol% / 45wt% EASC in hexanes. Extremely spicy
August 28, 2026 at 10:51 PM
that is 33vol% / 45wt% EASC in hexanes. Extremely spicy
You can have all this and more by swapping out your hexanes
All the disgust of butyric acid without the gagging
All the disgust of butyric acid without the gagging
July 19, 2026 at 4:15 PM
You can have all this and more by swapping out your hexanes
All the disgust of butyric acid without the gagging
All the disgust of butyric acid without the gagging
Thrilled to see Johannes Walker @johanneswalker.bsky.social present on the #stereoselective synthesis of polysubstitued bicyclo[2.1.1]hexanes. At the #Chemiedozententagung #CDT2025.
March 18, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Thrilled to see Johannes Walker @johanneswalker.bsky.social present on the #stereoselective synthesis of polysubstitued bicyclo[2.1.1]hexanes. At the #Chemiedozententagung #CDT2025.
Someone overfilled the hexanes bottle so I accidentally shot it at myself when I picked it up
March 6, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Someone overfilled the hexanes bottle so I accidentally shot it at myself when I picked it up
Save them for the campfire at GRCs
“…and the bottle said…it said…hexanes!!!! Aarrrggghhh!!!”
“…and the bottle said…it said…hexanes!!!! Aarrrggghhh!!!”
August 14, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Save them for the campfire at GRCs
“…and the bottle said…it said…hexanes!!!! Aarrrggghhh!!!”
“…and the bottle said…it said…hexanes!!!! Aarrrggghhh!!!”
Delocate hands never exposed to STRENGTHENING POWERFUL HEXANES
April 5, 2024 at 4:49 PM
Delocate hands never exposed to STRENGTHENING POWERFUL HEXANES
New paper!
Ellie, Zoe, and Rodrigo have a chiral Brønsted acid catalyzed strain-releasing [2π+2σ] photocycloaddition up at JACS today. This project is the result of a collaboration with GSK and Corteva through UW's new SynCat center.
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Ellie, Zoe, and Rodrigo have a chiral Brønsted acid catalyzed strain-releasing [2π+2σ] photocycloaddition up at JACS today. This project is the result of a collaboration with GSK and Corteva through UW's new SynCat center.
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Enantioselective [2π + 2σ] Photocycloaddition Enabled by Brønsted Acid Catalyzed Chromophore Activation
Bicyclo[2.1.1]hexanes have emerged as valuable scaffolds for the design of new pharmaceutical and agrochemical active ingredients. These structures can be efficiently synthesized via [2π + 2σ] photocy...
pubs.acs.org
November 7, 2024 at 10:13 PM
New paper!
Ellie, Zoe, and Rodrigo have a chiral Brønsted acid catalyzed strain-releasing [2π+2σ] photocycloaddition up at JACS today. This project is the result of a collaboration with GSK and Corteva through UW's new SynCat center.
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Ellie, Zoe, and Rodrigo have a chiral Brønsted acid catalyzed strain-releasing [2π+2σ] photocycloaddition up at JACS today. This project is the result of a collaboration with GSK and Corteva through UW's new SynCat center.
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Very happy to share the latest installment in our cycloaddition journey! Using steric and orbital control we are able to access highly substituted BCHs stereoselectively and with different substituents on each carbon bridges. Thanks and congratulations to the team!!
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Stereoselective Photocatalytic Crossed [2 + 2] Cycloadditions to Enantioenriched Polysubstituted Bicyclo[2.1.1]hexanes
Bicyclo[2.1.1]hexanes are highly sought-after as rigid sp3-rich building blocks for medicinal chemistry with their twelve substituent positions providing exciting opportunities for molecular design. H...
pubs.acs.org
June 22, 2026 at 7:05 AM
Very happy to share the latest installment in our cycloaddition journey! Using steric and orbital control we are able to access highly substituted BCHs stereoselectively and with different substituents on each carbon bridges. Thanks and congratulations to the team!!
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
& of course any concern about hexanes is easily addressed by paying a bit more for organic oils.
May 26, 2026 at 5:25 PM
& of course any concern about hexanes is easily addressed by paying a bit more for organic oils.
Idk why, but sometimes I feel like people don't listen to me
August 6, 2026 at 2:35 PM
Idk why, but sometimes I feel like people don't listen to me
More gasoline or hexanes and an open flame??
Screaming ensues.
OHHH. You wanted to KEEP the hands at the end of the process. Well, don't listen to people on the internet. But it doesn't smell like gas anymore, does it?
Screaming ensues.
OHHH. You wanted to KEEP the hands at the end of the process. Well, don't listen to people on the internet. But it doesn't smell like gas anymore, does it?
December 15, 2025 at 6:09 AM
More gasoline or hexanes and an open flame??
Screaming ensues.
OHHH. You wanted to KEEP the hands at the end of the process. Well, don't listen to people on the internet. But it doesn't smell like gas anymore, does it?
Screaming ensues.
OHHH. You wanted to KEEP the hands at the end of the process. Well, don't listen to people on the internet. But it doesn't smell like gas anymore, does it?