• Question: What are the discoveries that have lead up to your current work?

    Asked by shauno grouts to Shuo, Neil, Martin, Leonie, Lauren, Ciorsdaidh, Alan on 5 Mar 2018.
    • Photo: Martin McCoustra

      Martin McCoustra answered on 5 Mar 2018:

      Probably the key discovery that established the field of astrochemistry was made way back in the 1930s when astronomers began to observe simple chemical species like the cyanide and hydroxide radicals in the tails of comets. This was contrary to the perceived wisdom at the time that molecules could not exist in the harsh environment of space. The presence of these simple species pointed towards more complex molecules being present and prompted astronomers to develop tools to look for molecules. Today molecules are a crucial tool in understanding space.

    • Photo: Alan McCue

      Alan McCue answered on 5 Mar 2018:

      Well I make catalysts. So the most important discoveries were in 1900-1930 we when started to research key processes. For example how do we make ammonia and how do we convert carbon monoxide using a catalyst. Another really important step was when we learnt how to make oil from coal. Yes we can actually do it. Do a google search for ‘coal to liquids’ or ‘Fischer-Tropsch synthesis’ and see what you find!

    • Photo: Leonie Bole

      Leonie Bole answered on 5 Mar 2018:

      My current work centres around the area of organometallic chemistry. This is a somewhat small branch of inorganic chemistry, but one which is very important. This type of chemistry is air sensitive and so really could not be possible without th use of a Schlenk line (picture of mine on my profile). Wilhelm Schlenk is a hero in organometallic chemistry and discovered organolithium compounds in 1917. He is mostly known for his development of the Schlenk flask and, of course, the much loved Schlenk line. My science would not be possible without him!

    • Photo: Neil Keddie

      Neil Keddie answered on 13 Mar 2018:

      In my field, there was an observation made any years ago called the ‘gauche effect’, which says that if you have two carbon atoms attached to each other, with one fluorine atom on each carbon, that the fluorine atoms do not repel each other, but instead stay close together (this is unlike chlorine, bromine or iodine, which try and get as far away from each other as they can). This phenomenon allows us to control the shape of molecules (for instance if we put 6 of these fluorines in a line on 6 carbon atoms, we make a complete helix twist). We have used this to control shape, and as a result the properties, of a number of functional molecules for liquid crystals, scent molecules and even insect pheromone mimics (chemicals that attract insects).

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