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Week 9: Final Week

Well, the week is finally here. By this time tomorrow, I will be done with my internship. I didn't really do a lot of chemistry this week, either; I mostly spent my time cleaning my glassware and making sure my bench area was clean before I left. Although my 9 weeks here went by quickly, I certainly learned a lot, and I know I'm a better chemist because of it! I learned how to properly scale reactions, I learned how to monitor reactions by TLC, I learned how to perform columns, and even how to write a research-grade logbook. I look forward to taking these lessons with my for the rest of my undergraduate career and grad school. For the last time, this is Jared signing off!
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Week 8: Presentation

I didn't do much in the way of chemical reactions this week. Instead, I've been working on a presentation that I have to do for tomorrow. Basically, I have to present everything that I've done over the summer to my lab group and my PI. I'm a little nervous, but I know that I can do it! Also, next week is my last week for this internship. I can't believe how fast time went. It seems like just yesterday is when I started here. I'm excited to see what my final week will be like.
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Week 7: Oxidation Synthesis and more

This week, I tried to synthesize DMP (Dess-Martin Periodinane, and oxidizing agent) from IBX, and was unsuccessful. I'm not beating myself up over it, though, especially since one of my other coworkers had trouble synthesizing it as well. This is a very difficult reaction because it is air sensitive. Because of this, I have to keep it under nitrogen atmosphere at all times. I also ran out of IBX, so I had to synthesize more. Luckily, it's not too hard to make. Hopefully next week will bring more fruitful results.
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Week 6: Chemical Weapon Project Work

This week was also successful. I oxidized a bromo-alcohol compound to the aldehyde, monitoring the reaction by TLC (thin layer chromatography). What's even better about this reaction is I got to run a column, which is good experience! A column is when you fill a glass tube with cotton (to plug the bottom of the tube), sand and silica gel to help purify a compound. I also got experience in testing to see which solvent system (consisting of ethyl acetate and hexanes) would give an Rf value of 0.3 - 0.4 on the TLC plate. I'm excited to see what next week brings!
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Week 5: Work Towards FR901464

This week, I focused again on the DoD project. I tried to synthesize methallyl bromide from methallyl chloride, unfortunately to no avail. This was part of a greater scheme to synthesize the right fragment on FR901464. However, the Boekelheide rearrangement on the  2,6-dimethylpyridine 1-oxide, and I was successful! From here, I will oxidize the alcohol to the aldehyde! I've really learned a lot so far. I monitored the oxidation reaction via TLC, and learned how to use said technique more efficiently. I'm excited to see what next week holds!
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Week 4: Continuation of Synthesis

This week, I worked more heavily on the DoD project! The DoD project is a project that aims to synthesize better antidotes for chemical weapon attacks. Although there are a variety of compounds that we're making that show promise in helping victims of chemical weapon attacks, I personally started making a precursor molecule to one. The compound I tried to make was 2,6-dimethylpyridine 1-oxide, and it worked! After this, I'll perform a Boekelheide rearrangement, in which the oxide will move to one of the methyl groups as an alcohol.
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Week 3: DoD and the FR Project

This week, I was able to start on some FR synthesis! FR901464 is an anti-cancer reagent that targets a variety of cancers. I'm helping to synthesize the start material. It feels really good to be able to aid in the fight against cancer. However, I did have some days that didn't go so hot; on one day last week, it seemed to be a Murphy's Law kind of day. I had a reaction that didn't work, then, when I tried to rotavap the solvent off, my rotary evaporator broke! I'm hoping that next week will bring better results. On the plus side, I was able to successfully synthesize IBX (or 2-iodoxybenzoic acid), which is a precursor molecule for another oxidant known as Dess-Martin periodinane. Hopefully, next week will bring even more fruitful results.
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