Discovery of the Compound Buckminsterfullerene
Once in a while there are discoveries of compounds which surprise the scientific community. In 1985 such a discovery took place; it was the discovery of the compound named Buckminsterfullerene. The compound was the first of its kind: a big 60-atom molecule resembling a soccer ball, composed of carbon, and arranged in a perfect geodesic sphere. This compound was unique in its nature because it was the first time carbon was observed in a very stable and solid three-dimensional structure. Prior to this discovery, carbon was not thought to behave in such a manner: carbon had always been thought to be most stable when arranged in two-dimensional sheets. The discovery of this new carbon molecule created a new curiosity that still lives today. Carbon atoms form buckminsterfullerene by making hexagons and pentagons that snap together into a hollow ball. A molecule with a shape like this is sure to have interesting properties, and it does indeed. Strength, stability, superconductivity, and biological harmlessness are some of the favorites.
Buckminsterfullerene first gave scientists a hint of its presence in the early 1980's when tests on carbon soot from space showed inexplicable bumps on otherwise smooth graphs. Further tests involved a machine designed to produce clusters of atoms. The results were clear: carbon had a strong tendency to aggregate in groups of 60. More tests under different conditions put carbon 60 production virtually off the chart.
The prominence of clusters of 60 carbon atoms suggested that this was a particularly stable number, but the form of this molecule was a mystery. Such stability meant no dangling bonds. One possibility was that carbon's usual hexa...
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...possibilities have not even been fully explored yet. Furthur tests and experiments continue to this day on how we can utilize buckyballs to aid and perform various tasks. One thing is for certain, Buckminsterfullerene holds potential for the future.
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Kim, Taewoo, Trey L Arnold, Kyle A Leland, Aimee M Morey, Department of Chemistry, USAF Academy, CO 80840
Chemical Vapor Deposition is the most popular method for producing CNTs the process involved high temperature, hydrocarbon source such as methane which is decomposed in the presence of a metal catalyst (Ando, 2004). There are various types of Chemical Vapor deposition processes, but this method is recognized as Catalytic Chemical Vapor Deposition which is comparatively less expensive to Laser Ablation and Arc discharge methods (Ando, 2004). Chemical Vapor deposition is a flexible and lean way to produce Carbon Nano-tubes. It is very versatile process in which source hydrocarbon can be supplied in any form (Solid, Liquid or gas) and we can use substrates such as Ceramic bricks, cement, glass wool etc. The growth of C...
Philip G. Fothergill, Historical Aspects of Organic Evolution, pub. 1953 by the Philosophical Library Inc., 15 East 40th Street, New York, NY
Discovered that certain chemicals glowed when exposed to cathode rays. These chemicals were special because they weren’t deflected by the magnetic field produced in the cathode ray tube (which was built by Sir William Crookes in 1870).
...e molecules, as guanine molecules were similar in number to cytosine molecules (125). Chargaff gathered that DNA of some organisms had excess of A and T, while other forms had excess of G and C (126). With these smaller contributions, Watson and Crick were able to solve the intricate structure of DNA.
The IR spectrum that was obtained of the white crystals showed several functional groups present in the molecule. The spectrum shows weak sharp peak at 2865 to 2964 cm-1, which is often associated with C-H, sp3 hybridised, stretching in the molecule, peaks in this region often represent a methyl group or CH2 groups. There are also peaks at 1369 cm-1, which is associated with CH3 stretching. There is also C=O stretching at 1767 cm-1, which is a strong peak due to the large dipole created via the large difference in electronegativity of the carbon and the oxygen atom. An anhydride C-O resonates between 1000 and 1300 cm-1 it is a at least two bands. The peak is present in the 13C NMR at 1269 and 1299 cm-1 it is of medium intensity.
In this paper, Nicolaou and his associates describe how their goal was both the total synthesis of these CP compounds (achieved in 1999) along with the determination of their absolute configurations; methods used in initial attempts to determine absolute configuration at different carbons included X-ray crystallography and NMR. Nicolaou set about synthesizing this compound by thinking through possible reactions that he might use to begin to build the carbon skeleton needed for this molecule. His team decided on a type-II intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction as the key step to generation of the core skeleton. The Diels-Alder reaction utilizes a dienophile in order to form new carbon-carbon bonds in a single step, in this case to form multiple ring structures. However, Nicolaou ran into trouble when several reagent-based enantioselective approaches with the precursor failed to yield appreciable levels of the desired product. After much study of this problem, Nicolaou's team came to the conclusion that a Lewis acid catalyst would be their best shot at inducing the asymmetry needed for this particular absolute configuration.
This chemistry book report is focus on a book called “Napoleon's buttons: How 17 molecules changed history” by Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson. The publisher of this book is Tarcher Putnam, the book was published in Canada on 2003 with 17 chapters (hey the number match the title of the book!) and a total of 378 pages. The genre of this book is nonfiction. “Napoleon's Buttons” contain a fascinating story of seventeen groups of molecules that have greatly changed the course of history and continuing affect the world we live in today. It also reveal the astonishing chemical connection among some unrelated events, for example: Chemistry caused New Amsterdamers to be renamed New Yorkers and one little accident of detonating cotton apron in a minor housekeeping mishap lead to the development of modern explosives and the founding of the movie industry.
Thickett, Geoffrey. Chemistry 2: HSC course. N/A ed. Vol. 1. Milton: John Wiley & Sons Australia, 2006. 94-108. 1 vols. Print.
Carbon fibers were discovered in the late 1800s by Thomas Edison. The early lightbulbs Edison created used the carbon fibers as filaments. These carbon fibers used to create the early lightbulbs had a substantial tolerance to heat, but they lacked the tensile strength of modern carbon fibers. Edison used cellulose-based materials, such as cotton or bamboo, to make his carbon fibers. He used a method called “pyrolysis” to cook the bamboo at high temperatures in a controlled atmosphere to carbonize bamboo filaments, making them fire-resistant and capable of enduring intense heat needed for luminescence.
...e also realized that an adenine-thymine pair with two hydrogen bonds was identical in shape to a guanine-cytosine pair with two hydrogen bonds. This opened up the possibility of A-T and G-C pairs, rather than pairs of identical bases. Using Pauling’s ignorance of his mistake to their advantage, Watson and Crick rushed to put the metal model together and write a paper to be published in Nature so they could beat Pauling to the answer. Although they had been exceedingly cautious not to get ahead of themselves and publish a premature manuscript that would later turn out to have a major fault, they now felt they had enough evidence to confidently publish their findings. Indeed, a few days later, they sent the manuscript to the scientific journal with a strong cover letter from Bragg and their research was soon thereafter published, changing the scientific world forever.
Carbon is one of the basic elements of matter (Bush 1230-1231). The name carbon comes from the Latin word "carbo" meaning charcoal.Carbon is the sixth most abundant element (Gangson). More than 1,000,000 compounds are made from carbon(Carbon (C)). "The Element Carbon is defined as a naturally abundant non-metallic element that occurs in many inorganic and in all organic compounds, exists freely as graphite and diamond and as a constituent of coal, limestone, and petroleum, and is capable of chemical self-bonding to form an enormous number of chemically, biologically, and commercially important molecules." Carbon is used in diamonds, petroleum oil, radiocarbon dating, smoke detectors, kerosine, gasoline, carbon fiber. (Alcin).
Bruce Mattson. “Henry Cavendish 1731-1810”. History of Gas Chemistry. Updated September 25, 2001. Retrieved December 1, 2011
J. Clayden, N. Greeves, S. Warren, P. Wothers. Organic Chemistry. 8th ed. 2007, Oxford University Press, p. 1186-1191.
Scientists from earlier times helped influence the discoveries that lead to the development of atomic energy. In the late 1800’s, Dalton created the Atomic Theory which explains atoms, elements and compounds (Henderson 1). This was important to the study of and understanding of atoms to future scientists. The Atomic Theory was a list of scientific laws regarding atoms and their potential abilities. Roentagen, used Dalton’s findings and discovered x-rays which could pass through solid objects (Henderson 1). Although he did not discover radiation from the x-rays, he did help lay the foundations for electromagnetic waves. Shortly after Roentagen’s findings, J.J. Thompson discovered the electron which was responsible for defining the atom’s characteristics (Henderson 2). The electron helped scientists uncover why an atom responds to reactions the way it does and how it received its “personality”. Dalton’s, Roentagen’s and Thompson’s findings helped guide other scientists to discovering the uses of atomic energy and reactions. Such applications were discovered in the early 1900’s by using Einstein’s equation, which stated that if a chain reaction occurred, cheap, reliable energy could b...