WWWTP? Palmolive Edition

I happened upon this bottle in the store yesterday, and found the marketing statement quite curious:

Now wait just a minute...what does that even mean? Does a human contain "no unnecessary cells," or a delicious meal "no unnecessary ingredients?" Perhaps this is the Strunkian ideal* of chemophobic marketing:

"A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts."   - Strunk and White, The Elements of Style

So, what 'necessary' chemicals does Palmolive Free & Clear contain?

Source: Colgate-Palmolive 

So we have foaming agents, detergents, thickeners, stabilizers, fragrances, dyes, and water - a.k.a. every ingredient present in most dish soaps! 

This feels like Kraft Mac & Cheese redux. Please understand that I'm not against informed consumer choice, and I certainly support labeling transparency** and product safety. But this marketing slogan is at best meaningless, and at worst drags popular punching bag "chemicals" through the mud. Again.

At least it can wash off with Palmolive Pure + Clear - Contains Necessary Chemicals.

*Except, of course, that the authors of this dish soap piece seem to have omitted a verb.
**Next up: Chemplex (TM) brand butyllithium: Contains 95% random C-Li bonds (and fragrance!)

Friday Fun: Synthetic Frontiers

Over time, you collect a lot of books about chemistry. Books piling on books, spilling off the shelves.

I flipped through three of them today, and recorded one short passage from each. Can you guess the texts?
(P.S. In the spirit of giving everyone a chance at it, email me with your answers, and I'll congratulate anyone who gets all three here on the blog)

Entry 1: 19 seconds
Entry 2: 16 seconds
Entry 3: 17 seconds

Happy Friday, Everyone!

SAO

Friday Fun: Say Cheese!

What's happened to chemistry group pictures?

Back in my Stone-Age grad school days, everyone hated taking the annual group picture. I had to harp, cajole, twist arms, and generally push my entire group out the door yearly just so we could record ourselves for posterity. 

Perhaps it was the poor resolution of the 35-mm film, or certain scientists' natural aversion to daily showering and grooming? I'll never know.

Well, good-by old, disposable cameras, and hello Photoshop:

(Inspired by Twilight movie poster)

This gem, from the McIntosh group at U. Arkansas, obviously took some time and effort! 

Or how about the latest from the M.C. White group at Illinois?

I did not know that the Terminator and Chuck Norris worked in synthetic chemistry!

OK, if production-quality pictures aren't your thing, how about something more...subtle?

Like an all-plaid group shot, perhaps?

 (Thanks, Reisman group!)

Maybe you're reading this thinking "What a giant waste of time!" Well, maybe it's not advancing the science, but I'm sure it's really fun to be a part of, and helps morale during a long lab campaign.

Readers, I'm only really familiar with synthetic groups...anyone else take wacky group pictures?

Let me know in the Comments!

Update, 7/25/13 - Lots of people writing in! Here's some more excellent pics...

The "Usain Bolt" pose. Turnbull / Webb labs, U. Leeds, UK (Thanks, Tom / Mike!)

Wolczanski Group, Cornell (thanks, Anon)

Gamelin Group, U. Washington-Seattle (thanks, Anon)

The "1908" picture, Johnson Lab, Yale, 2008 (thanks, Jenny!)

Update 7/26/13:

Boone Lab, U. Toronto (thanks, Ben!)

Chaplin Group, U. Warwick (thanks, Dr. Jess!)

Spelling "OHIO" with the Mattson group, OSU

The Jungwirth Group harks back to the Roaring '80s

More to come...Stay tuned!

Pharma Form Rejection Letter

MegaPharmaCorp
Month, Day, 20__

Dear (Dr. / Mr. / Ms.) __________________

Thank you for your recent application, which we received (circle: 1 month / 6 months / >1 year) ago. We have reviewed your qualifications* against all current openings.

Unfortunately, we're literally swimming in resumes we have identified a candidate with skills that more closely match** our current wants needs.

Your information will remain on-file with our company buried in an old cardboard box for future consideration. We will contact you*** if something matching your experience opens up.

Sincerely,

MegaPharmaCorp HR****

* Seriously, a black-belt martial artist / skydiver with 30 first-author pubs? How are you unemployed?
**Read: The internal person we were going to hire all along. After all, we trained 'em for this.
***No we won't. We never do. But we think this sounds reassuring, so we leave it in.
****Our motto: Faceless, nameless, blameless.

Free T-Shirts? Count Me IN.

ChemDraw, the chemistry drawing software I've used since forever, is currently sponsoring an online contest for ACS Indy T-Shirt designs. Being a sucker for 1) contests, and 2) goofing around in ChemDraw, I had to enter. Not just once, but twice!

With apologies to Beyonce

With apologies to Disney.

Friday Fun: 'Average' Chemistry Work Week?

Looking through the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation document, I came across an interesting paragraph describing "average" work weeks for American employees (emphasis mine):

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was
unchanged in June at 34.5 hours. In manufacturing, the workweek
increased by 0.1 hour to 40.9 hours, and overtime was unchanged at 3.3
hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory
employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 33.7 hours.

Now, I understand that these totals may be skewed down by a variety of factors (furloughs, part-time work, medical leave, etc), but don't those totals still seem low to anyone? Especially viewed through the lens of a lab scientist - I'm pretty sure we fit under "private nonfarm," but most of us don't work those hours!

The three totals average out to ~36 hours / week.

Let's Play a Game: Write in, and tell me when you finish your "average" work week. For context, please provide a general job description and industry. For example:

See Arr Oh - Ph.D. chemist at a small biotech company. Thursday morning.

(That's my generic position, industry, and the point in the work week where I reach 36 hours.)

I'm very curious to see how the totals change among jobs* and between industries. Looking forward to your submissions!

Happy (?) Friday,
SAO

*Educated Guess: Betcha most grad students get to 36 hours by Wednesday. (sigh)

Friday Fun: Meet Ginkgo Bioworks

This recruiting video for Ginkgo Bioworks* made the rounds a few years back, but some avid Twitter fans want me to re-post it, since Ginkgo seems to have some very interesting job descriptions on their Careers page (seriously, read the whole thing...)

I must admit, I love the cheesy public-domain elevator Muzak paired with the stereotypical 1950s fashion sense: girls in long skirts, guys in slacks and bow-ties. There's some cute site gags (DNA sequencing by typewriter) and cultural taboos (smoking at the bench!). 

It looks like they had a lot of fun making this video. Enjoy it . . .and maybe apply for a job!

Happy Friday,

SAO

*Despite my earlier misgivings, it seems they're a real company, based on the Boston waterfront.

"Crystalline" CO - Saccharin's New Trick

Seems I'm posting an awful lot about artificial sweeteners these days!

This latest example, from the always entertaining and informative folks at Angewandte Chemie, employs our old friend N-formylsaccharin* as a carbon monoxide "equivalent" for Pd-catalyzed addition reactions:

Credit: Manabe Group | ACIEE

Quite a few benefits accrue: No pressure equipment. 'Medium' heat. Relatively low catalyst loading.  Cheap, off-shelf reagents. If they could figure out a slightly less exotic reductant, I'd use this all the time!

So, how does it work, anyway? The researchers confirm CO release by treating formylsaccharin with several bases and observing CO evolution.** The standard (boring) formylation model might be operative here - Pd oxidative addition, CO insertion, reductive cleavage (rinse, repeat). 

OR (more excitingly), the authors note that they detect a transient "acylsaccharin" by HRMS. This might imply that the formylsaccharin reacts directly with the palladated arene, or that the sodium saccharine byproduct plays a role in stabilizing / promoting reduction of the insertion intermediate.

Sweet.

*OK, so it's not saccharin itself, but pretty darn close. First developed by Cossy in 2011 for formylating amines.
**A great mechanism for those looking for cume questions!

Science First!

An astute reader clued me in to a fiery interview with Regeneron CEO Dr. Leonard "Len" Schleifer featured in FierceBiotech today (emphasis mine):

"Regeneron CEO Dr. Leonard "Len" Schleifer, who founded the company in 1988, says he takes pride in the fact that his team is known for doing "zero" acquisitions. All 11 drugs in the company's clinical-stage pipeline stem from in-house discoveries. He prefers a science-first approach to running a biotech company, hiring [CSO George] Yancopoulos to run R&D in 1989, and he endorsed a 2012 pay package for the chief scientist that was more than twice the size of his own compensation last year. 

Scientists run Regeneron. Like Yancopoulos, Schleifer is an Ivy League academic scientist turned biotech executive. Regeneron gained early scientific credibility with a 1990 paper in the journal Science on cloning neurotrophin factor, a research area that was part of a partnership with industry giant Amgen. Schleifer has recruited three Nobel Prize-winning scientists to the Board of Directors, which is led by long-time company Chairman Dr. P. Roy Vagelos, who had a hand in discovering the first statin and delivering a breakthrough treatment for a parasitic cause of blindness to patients in Africa.   

"I remember these people from Pfizer used to go around telling us, 'You know, blockbusters aren't discovered, they're made,' as though commercial people made the blockbuster," Schleifer said in an interview. "Well, get lost. Science, science, science--that's what this business is about."

From all of us toiling away at the bench on this sweltering summer day: Thanks, Dr. Len!

Being "Part of Things"

During my intern years, there was one guy - KC - who really had it figured out.

He treated everyone professionally, asked after sick wives or kids off to college, and always helped people out of a jam. He spoke softly, but radiated a warm confidence that instilled trust.

He was also the Departmental Director.

I remember walking in really early one summer morning, catching him at his hood. At the time, he had about 20 people working on his program; he didn't have to run reactions or take spectra anymore. 

Full of naïveté, I asked him "Hey, what are you doing in here? You pay people for this!"

He smiled, and said "I just love being in lab. It's the only way I feel like I'm really part of things."

It's been many years, but I still remember how his face lit up as he said that. 
Someday, I want to be more like KC.

'Green' Coca-Cola

Credit: Soda stream USA

I really enjoyed hearing Bob Mondello's NPR blurb about the debut of "Coke Life" in Argentina. Apparently, this soda contains stevia and table sugar, and sells in a plant plastic derived bottle. It's not as calorie-laden as traditional Coke, and bills itself as "green" (renewable). Thus, the new logo Coca-Cola rolled out: a green background, in place of the traditional red known the world over.

I have a secret: I've often wanted to peer behind the scenes as a Coca-Cola chemist. Think about all the different stuff you'd get to play with! Considering sweeteners alone, you have Diet Coke, Coca-Cola, Coke Zero, and now "Coke Life," which use aspartame, high-fructose corn syrup, sucralose, and stevia, respectively. Not just those, but dyes, vitamins, stabilizers, emulsifiers, preservatives, and much, much more. Best part? If you invent something exciting, you get to see it used by billions of people - more than your average pharmaceutical (and a much shorter development cycle!).

It's interesting to speculate on why certain artificial sweeteners didn't make the Coke cut. Certainly, lead acetate didn't - ask the ancient Romans why not. But diner table stand-by saccharin didn't, either. Perhaps too much bad press on its tenuous ties to cancer? And why not go back to using a truly "natural" sweetener, like sugar or honey? Cost plays a role here, as does consumer preference.*

I look forward to trying "Coke Life" myself. If anyone from Argentina reads this, let's work out some shipping arrangements.

*To me, HFCS tastes overwhelmingly cloying, but I've heard dedicated Coke drinkers describe saccharin as "metallic," aspartame as "sharp" or "bitter," and stevia as "too sweet" (Ha!). 

JLC Turns Two!

Credit: Nat Geo

(I won't be here to update on July 15, so I'm a bit early!)

Once again, my heartfelt thanks go out to each and every person who clicked here over the past 363 days.

This past year's been full of ups and downs, as #phdlife in start-ups often is. Blogging keeps me both excited about and engaged in science communication...and provides a welcome respite when things at work get too crazy. 

Of note, 2013 has seen an explosion in new chemblogging talent. I'm stoked to watch our combined efforts start to get real recognition in the wider world and in the general public.

Salient Factoids from Year 2:
(Year 1 recap)

Stats:
Pageviews: 276,000+
Posts: 218
Total Tweets (ongoing): 11,700+
Blog Carnivals (7): #ChemSummer and #FoodChem (hosted by CENtral Science), #KCNBirthday (hosted by BRSM), #ChemCoach, #ChemMovieCarnival, #BRSMBlogParty, #RealTimeChem

Podcasts: 14 (Thanks to Matt, CJ, Dr. Rb, Ethan, and Deb!)
Stu, you're in the queue...

Elsewhere: Blog Syn (5), The Haystack (2), Chemistry Blog (2), Chemjobber (1), Sceptical Chymist (2)
(*July 2012 - July 2013. Want a guest post, or want to guest post? Email me at seearroh_AT_gmail_DOT_com)

Recurring Themes: Reproducibility, Pop Culture Chemistry, Plagiarism, WWWTP?, Food Chemistry, Catalysis, Blog Philosophy, Wordle, Chemophobia, Tech Funding, Enthusiasm, Cool Structures, Faculty Moves, Football, Surveys, Star Trek, Friday Fun, Hand-drawn

Friday Fun: Stacked Up

Know how many business cards you accumulate during the first few years of a start-up?

It's 20 cards per 1/4 inch...

...a lot.

Happy Friday, everyone!

SAO

Pebble: Turning 'Virtual' to 'Actual'

I've watched the story of Kickstarter darling Pebble with great interest. Last year, their humble $100,000 goal to build a "Dick Tracy-style" smart-watch exploded into a ten million dollar campaign almost overnight. With the increased demand (~70,000 backers) came headaches - suddenly, Pebble had to have engineers, infrastructure, supply chains, and every other concern of a physical, bricks-and-mortar company.

A Bloomberg article from this morning, "Pebble Learns Why Most Startups Make Software," neatly summed up the situation: "Hardware is Hard." It's a similar sentiment to that expressed by many small biotechs: You need molecules made to test your theories and cure your target disease, but you don't want the staff, shipping, or facility overhead sitting on your cost sheet.

Thus, Pebble mimics a 'Virtual' Pharma company, where you get most everything done by off-site CROs. The model works great when you can control demand, whether shipping watches or drugs, but you have less control over how fast either gets done since you aren't personally building them!

Result: Customers get angry, or clinical trials get delayed.

I need to do more digging to paint a full picture, but the situation also mirrors Big Pharma. Over the past few decades, as mergers occur, labs are closed, equipment sold off, and long-time staff let go, pharma has found itself in a similar predicament: Who makes the molecules? For now, the outsourcing boom continues unabated, but one wonders if tech cautionary tales like Pebble's will inspire the next generation of pharma start-ups to move back to a model with (gasp!) actual chemists, hoods, and reagents.

Here's to incubators and shared synthesis spaces.

CNN: Revisionist History

Something's missing.

Remember that post I wrote yesterday, impugning CNN's Chart health blog for their casual use of the word "chemical" to describe certain sweeteners?

Well, they certainly fixed it for me...now all mentions of the word chemical are scrubbed out!

Luckily, nothing ever truly dies on the Internet, so I present to you two versions of the same article, from consecutive days:

Click to embiggen

Caveat lector - If this approach of editing sans Correction notice happens on a little blog post, think of the fluidity with which the parent organization can report the news.

New Tricks for Old Reagents: Oxygen Everywhere!

Passed a time, not too long ago, when if you wanted to oxygenate a selected C-C or C-H bond, you had to jump through several hoops: Over-oxidize (read: DESTROY!) then reduce again. Convert it to another functional group first, then use an expensive catalyst. Use toxic heavy metals (Cr, Hg, Pb, anyone?) in their highest oxidation states...and, oh yeah, heat the heck out of it.

The past decade has seen kinder, gentler oxidations emerge in rapid succession. Cobalt. P-450s. Iron. Now, two recent papers bring new wrinkles to the oxygenation of organic molecules in unexpected ways.

The first, from the Concellon / del Amo group in Org. Lett., relates a neat trick performed by Oxone, usually a reagent reserved to make other oxidants.

The researchers deal with their serendipitous discovery with humility and class:

"This work was not originally intended..[but]...was worth studying. [We] remark that Oxone is a crystalline solid oxidant, easy to handle, non-toxic...and, above all, stable and cheap."

All great reasons to run these reactions, which are formally derivatives of the classic Baeyer-Villiger reaction. They blast through a brief substrate table (26 entries, 33-95% yields), and seem pretty excited about investigating the mechanism.

The second reaction, hot off the Nature presses, involves another legacy reagent: phthaloyl peroxide. I suspect the Siegel group was looking for sp3 C-H activation conditions, but instead discovered a serendipitous site-selective arene activation, reliably producing phenols.

The reaction works across a broad functional group palette - azides, silyl groups, boronate esters, primary halogens - that other oxidants would tear apart. They ultimately do about 50 substrates, including 3 natural product-like scaffolds, with yields ranging from 45-95%.

Deciphering the mechanism requires Ken Houk's computational super-powers. The researchers discover a "reverse-rebound" mechanism operates, meaning an oxygen radical from phthaloyl peroxide adds into the ring, the electron bounces around in the pi cloud, and then ejects the ipso hydrogen in a two-step process. Interestingly, other radical oxygen oxidants (di-benzoyl peroxide) led to primarily sp3 oxidation, showing that the structure of the radical precursor plays a big role here.

(More) CNN Chemophobia: What's a Chemical, Again?

(For more posts in this series, please click here and here...)

*PLEASE NOTE: The text of the original CNN article has changed!*

--------

Hey there, Cable News Network. We really have to stop meeting like this.

The latest snafu comes from CNN's Chart health blog courtesy of Twitter contact (and fellow blogger) Marc. The piece recaps an Opinion column written by Purdue neuroscientist Susan Swithers, which explores a strange and interesting phenomenon of artificial sweeteners: apparently, overconsumption of these compounds can fool the body into reacting as if sugar (glucose) were present, leading to unforeseen metabolic conditions.

The quibble comes a few paragraphs down, where the train falls off the track (emphasis mine):

"There are five FDA-approved artificial sweeteners: acesulfame potassium (Sunett, Sweet One), aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet), neotame, saccharin (SugarTwin, Sweet'N Low), and sucralose (Splenda).  

All of them are chemicals. “Saccharin was one of the first commercially-available artificially sweeteners, and it’s actually a derivative of tar,” says Swithers. 

Natural sweeteners, like Stevia - which has no calories and is 250 times sweeter than regular sugar - is not a chemical, but is still a processed extract of a natural plant, and increases your health risks similar to artificial sweeteners."

Wait, what did I just read? From a neuroscientist, no less! (perhaps a misquote?)

One of these comes from a plant.
But all of these things are chemicals

1. Stevia, a commercial FDA-approved non-nutritive sweetener, is most certainly a 'chemical.' I've included a handy graphic (right) in case anyone was confused.

2. That first statement in the second paragraph? Quite true; all five compounds listed certainly are chemicals, too! Kudos for that one.

3. Can I tell you how tired I am of fighting against the "everything from tar = bad!" mentality pervading modern-day society? Anyone dusting off that tired chestnut needs to rub their eyes (hard) and look around. They probably recorded the line using a polymer-based recorder (made from tar). On interview day, both folks probably wore synthetic fibers (made from tar) and sat on plastic chairs (made from tar). They may have quaffed their thirst from water bottles (made from tar) or eaten a Twinkie (made from tar). Perhaps they drove to work that day, using gas (made from tar) in their car (made from tar...well, and rocks), down a highway (made from tar) singing to a CD (made from tar) and passing farm stands selling fruits and vegetables (made from dirt, gases, and chemicals).

Until next time, CNN. And there will, of course, be a next time.

Update, 7/10/13: Fixed small error in steviol structure.
Update, 7/11/13: A commenter points out that stevia sweetness relies on glycosides; I'd originally drawn the aglycone above. Fixed, Thanks!

Simple Joys of Chemistry

I looked down into the vial, and a little crystalline starfish was there to greet me.

Naming Rights

(Thanks to the July issue of WIRED magazine for the tip-off)
(Check updates, below, for folks who've reminded me of more chemist-named facilities)

Andre Young and Jimmy Iovino:
Music Entrepreneurs / Academy Founders
(Wonder which guy gets to set the new dress code?)
Credit: Sam Jones | USC

Could you receive a doctorate from Dr. Dre?
Not yet, but maybe soon...

I somehow missed the announcement a few months ago:
Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovino, two highly successful music entrepreneurs, donated a chunk of change to USC. The result? The USC Iovino Young Academy for Arts, Technology, and the Business of Innovation.
(Tagline: The Degree Is In Disruption.)

The program creates an L.A-based  incubator, with courses like "Marketing Radical Innovations," and "Managing New Enterprises." The students spend their fourth year working, quite literally, in a space dubbed "The Garage," filled with tools, gadgets, computers, and other budding entrepreneurs.

How much did this new Academy set Jimmy and Dre back? A cool $70 million. Not too shabby, for two guys who never went to college.

This got me thinking: Do chemists ever buy naming rights?

Most of us would be content to be known for a specific reaction or process - 'named reaction' books get reprinted almost annually. Sometimes well-known professors sponsor or are honored with named professorships, such as the Cram or Vedejs Chairs. One famous Nobelist even garnered his own Institute. Rarer still, chemists whose research translates into industry can name buildings (Silverman Hall), institutes (Warner-Babcock), or create charitable organizations (the Kenan Trust).

But, sponsoring entire academic programs? The only chemist* I can recall doing that is Jack Welch, with two programs: a "Management Institute" at Strayer, and the business school at Sacred Heart.

Too much money? Admittedly, most chemists only make a fraction of $70 mil over the course of a career. But, the top dogs at large chemical companies might come closer. So, how about it, guys? Who wants to see the Liveris Institute? The Svanberg Charitable Trust?

Better still? The Witty Professorship (that one just writes itself!)

*OK, OK, he's Chem-E. Close enough for this discussion.

1. Updates (7/7/13) - On the twitterz, James Banal points out that Ahmed Zewail (1999 Chem Nobel) has a Research Park ("city") named for him.
2. Learned that Jack Welch also named a business school at SHU. Text edited to reflect same.
3. On Twitter, Matt Hartings points to the Beckman Institute (Illinois and CA!), and Moore Centre (Cambridge) / Moore Labs (CalTech)
4. In the Comments, CE points out the (ironic) exclusion of one Alfred Nobel, he of the eponymous Prize, and Max Planck, he of the eponymous Institute.
5. Anon points to the Sanger Institute, the Curie Institute, and the Lawrence Livermore Nat'l Lab.

#ChemSummer Carnival: Single-Substance Summer Song Playlist

Ahhh, summer. Sunshine, grilling outdoors, beach trips, and the ever-present summer music playlist.

You're no doubt familiar with the genre: 

Top 100 Smooth Jazz Elevator Classics! 

Top 50 Classic Rock Beach Anthems! 

Top 20 Best-of-the-Moment Blink-and-You'll-Miss-'Em Hits!

Well, with C&EN Benevolent Online Overlord Rachel calling a #ChemSummer blog carnival, how could I resist? Let's work together to build a chemistry-themed summer playlist!

Here are the rules for this one:

- To keep it interesting, nominate only single-word, single-substance song titles (Abbreviations are OK).

- No generic descriptors like "elements," "chemistry," "stuff," or "drugs."

- Commonly-used names, like "aspirin" in place of "acetylsalicylic acid" acceptable. 

- Since I'm running this show, I have final judgment over all entries. No whining.

I'll update the list as entries come in, assigning credit where due. Please check the (ever-growing) list to limit duplicate entries!

The 2013 Single-Word Single-Substance Summer Playlist

1. "Glycerine" - Bush

2. "Cocaine" - JJ Cale / Eric Clapton / The Cruel Sea

3. "Lithium" - Nirvana / Evanescence / The Hit House

4. "TNT" - AC/DC / Tortoise

5. "Heroin" - Lou Reed / Velvet Underground / Bongripper

6. "Boron" - The Cow Exchange / Ole Mathisen

7. "Alcohol" - Brad Paisley / Barenaked Ladies / Gogol Bordello           (thanks, Matt!)

8. "Nicotine" - Anet / Trai'D

9. "Acetone" - Mudhoney

10. "Gold" - Prince / Spandau Ballet / Owl City / Emmylou Harris / Interference on the Once / Genius / GZA  (thanks, Anon and multiple others!)

11. "Formaldehyde" - Editors / Dr. Atomik / Six Feet Under   (thanks, David Bradley!)

12. "Sulfur" - Slipknot                                                               (thanks, David Bradley!)
13. "Diamonds" - Rihanna / L'il Jon                                     (thanks, David Bradley, CMO!)
14. "Titanium" - David Guetta                                             (thanks, Lisa Jarvis!)
15. "Arsenic" - The Loved Ones / The Hit House                    (thanks, David Bradley!)
16. "Carbon" - Tori Amos  / The Hit House / VNV Nation    
17. "Water" - The Who / Brad Paisley / Breaking Benjamin / The Roots /ohGr   
(thanks, Sam Lemonick and Anon x 2!)
18. "Oxygen" - New Found Glory / Willy Mason / Michael Gira / Jean Michel Jarre / Bjork / Colbie Caillat                    (thanks, MB, Nessa, Anon, Glen, and many more!)
19. "Salt" - Lori McKenna     
20. "Kerosene" - Miranda Lambert / David Bridie     (thanks, David Bradley and Renee!)
21. "Buckminsterfullerene" - Radiation City              (thanks, David Bradley!)
22. "Cholesterol" - Adam McNaughtan   
23. "Silver" - The Pixies                                          (thanks, ColoumbicExplosion!)
24. "Melatonin" - Silver Sun Pickups / Radiohead       (thanks, ColoumbicExplosion and Anon!)
25. "Strychnine" - The Sonics                                    (thanks, Rik!)
26. "Mica" - Mission to Burma                                   (thanks, ColoumbicExplosion!)
27. "Gasoline" - Audioslave / The Dead Weather       (thanks, ColoumbicExplosion and Piotr!)
28. "Ecstasy" - ATB / PJ Harvey
29. "Melanin" - David Hause                                (thanks, David Bradley!)
30. "NaCl" - The McGarrigles                            (thanks, C&EN staff!)
31. "Ethanol" - Windy City Gentleman                (thanks, Agilent staff!)
32. "Nacre" - Annemarie Borg 
33. "Nitrous" - Twisted Insane
34. "Toluene" - Megurine Luka     
35. "Phosphorus" - Eufonius / Soil & Eclipse                (thanks, MB!)
36. "Nitroglycerin" - Movits!   
37. "Tylenol" - Ben Kweller
38. "Oxycontin" - L'il Wyte / Esham                            (thanks, S.O. and Glen!)
39. "Polyethylene" - Radiohead                                   (thanks, Rob Westervelt!)
40. "Soma" - The Smashing Pumpkins / The Strokes        (thanks, Glen!)                 
41. "LSD" - Hawkwind / Funeral Dress / Tiger5hark / Hallucinogen
42. "Morphine" - Michael Jackson                          (thanks, Anon!)
43. "Cyanide" - Deathstars / Metallica                    (thanks, Helen and Brian!)
44. "Chloroform" - Spoon                                        (thanks, Glen!) 
45. "L-Dopa" - Big Black                                       (thanks, Piotr!)
46. "Emerald" - Thin Lizzy                                        (thanks, ColoumbicExplosion!)
47. "Caffeine" - Faith No More                                 (thanks, Piotr!)
48. "NO2" - Phish                                                 (thanks, Anon!)
49. "D.M.S.O." - Dead Kennedys                         (thanks, Anon!)
50. "Silver" - Juno Reactor                                     (thanks, Piotr!)
51. "Nitrogen" - Juno Reactor / Zero Cult                  (thanks, Piotr + MB!)
52. "Palladium" - Weather Report                             (thanks, Piotr!)
53. "Quartz" - Marillion / Hit House                          (thanks, Piotr and Anon!)
54. "Ruby" - Silver Apples                                         (thanks, Piotr!)
55. "Coal" - Michael Penn                                         (thanks, Glen!)
56. "Alcool" - Ufomammut                                        (thanks, Piotr!)
57. "Alkohol" - Impaled Nazarene                              (thanks, Piotr!)
58. "Methamphetamine" - Eyehategod / Old Crow Medicine Show  (thanks, Piotr and Casey!)
59. "Copper" - Shellac  / Tones on Tail / The Pass      (thanks, Barney, Darrell, MB!)
60. "Dramamine" - Modest Mouse                               (thanks, Renee!)
61. "Haemoglobin" - Placebo                                       (thanks, Renee!)
62. "Aluminum" - The White Stripes / Barenaked Ladies     (thanks, Renee and Andrew!)
63. "EtOH" - The Avalanches                                      (thanks, Renee!)
64. "Topaz" - The B-52s                                               (thanks, Renee!)
65. "Iodine" - Dallas Crane / Icon for Hire                    (thanks, Renee and Anon!)
66. "Nylon" - Grinspoon                                               (thanks, Renee!)
67. "Aspirin" - Seka Aleksic                              
68. "Penicillin" - Jim Jones / ENDO                    
69. "Mercury" - Counting Crows / Throwing Muses / Bloc Party / The Hit House
70. "Iron" - Woodkid / Calvin Harris / Ensiferum
71. "Tritium" - Andres Fresko and Andrei K
72. "Adrenochrome" - The Sisters of Mercy / Emeralds        (thanks, Darrell!)
73. "Chromium" - The Church                                                 (thanks, Darrell!)
74. "Novacane" - Frank Ocean / Beck                                     (thanks, Teri!)
75. "Novocaine" - Alice Cooper                                              (thanks, Teri!) 
75. "Adrenaline" - Bush / Shinedown / Cam'ron / The Roots
76. "Testosterone" - Bush
77. "Cellulose" - Stegosaurus Rex                                           (thanks, Bruce Turnbull!)
78. "Sucrose" - The Delgados                                                 (thanks, Bruce Turnbull!)
79. "AZT" - The Kinsey Sicks / Cephalic Carnage 
80. "Memantine" - Vegas Martyrs
81. "Levothroid" - Vegas Martyrs
82. "Barium" - Made by Robot                                                  (thanks, Seb Spain!)
83. "Sand" - Einstürzende Neubauten / Horse the Band (thanks, Seb and Piotr!)
84. "Escitolopram" - Vegas Martyrs
85. "Ritalin" - Forever the Sickest Kids / Paolo Nutini / The Simpsons
86. "Bromine" - Rushmore
87. "Tungsten" - Malvina Reynolds
88. "Ether" - Gang of Four / Nas                                               (thanks, Seb Spain!)
89. "Styrofoam" - Fugazi                                                            (thanks, Seb Spain!)
90. "Graphene" - Midwives of Discord
91. "Indigo" - Moloko                                                                 (thanks, Martyn!) 
92. "Tetrahydrocannabinol" - Esham
93. "Argon" - Ole Mathisen                                                        (thanks, Seb Spain!)
94. "Chlorine" - Ole Mathisen / The Hit House / Jeans Wilder      (thanks, Seb Spain, MB!)
95. "Fluorine" - Ole Mathisen                                                        (thanks, Seb Spain!)
96. "Radon" - Ole Mathisen                                                          (thanks, Seb Spain!)
97. "Uranium" - Ole Mathisen / Kraftwerk                                (thanks, Seb Spain and ACS UGrad Office!)
98. "Bismuth" - Ole Mathisen                                                        (thanks, Seb Spain!)
99. "Sodium" - Ole Mathisen / Alex Dimou                                     (thanks, Seb Spain, MB!)
100. "Codeine" - Trampled by Turtles / Jason Isbell / Barracudas
101. "Neon" - John Mayer                                                              (thanks, James Banal!)
102. "Thebaine" - Rachael Sage
103. "Ephedrine" - Quincy Punx / No Knife / Factory 81
104. "Sugar" - FloRida / System of a Down / Tori Amos                (thanks, Agilent Staff, Robin!)
105. "Telluride" - Laura Stevenson                                                (thanks, Paco!)
106. "Osmium" - Marshall Law                                                      (thanks, DHChemist!)
107. "Cadmium" - Henry Kaiser                                                       (thanks, DHChemist!)
108. "Granite" - Pendulum                                                                (thanks, DHChemist!)
109. "Magnesium" - Johnny Action Figure                                      (thanks, Anon!)
110. "Mescaline" - Robert Francis                                                    (thanks, Glen!)
111. "Lysine" - Max Tundra                                                            (thanks, Glen!)
112. "Clonazepam" - Esham                                                            (thanks, Glen!)
113. "Psilocybin" - Esham                                                                (thanks, Glen!)
114. "Phencyclidine" - Esham                                                          (thanks, Glen!)
115. "A-Thujone" - Esham                                                             (thanks, Glen!)
116. "Methylenedioxymethamphetamine" - Esham                           (thanks, Glen!)
117. "Dimethyltryptamine" - Esham                                                 (thanks, Glen!)
118. "THC" - Jhameel                                                                     (thanks, Nessa!)
119. "Uranium" - Commodores                                                        (thanks, Anon!)
120. "Platinum" - Mike Oldfield                                                         (thanks, Anon!)
121. "Helium" - Skyclad / Plain White T's                                         (thanks, Anon, MB!)
122. "Argon" - The Hit House / Owen                                              (thanks, Anon!)
123. "Iridium" - The Hit House / Dark Tranquility                             (thanks, Anon and Baltic!)
124. "Beryllium" - The Hit House / Computer Music All-Stars          (thanks, Anon!)
125. "Krypton" - The Hit House                                                       (thanks, Anon!)
126. "Plutonium" - The Hit House                                                      (thanks, Anon!)
127. "Basalt" - The Hit House                                                             (thanks, Anon!)
128. "Radium" - The Hit House                                                           (thanks, Anon!)
129. "Zirconium" - The Hit House                                                       (thanks, Anon!)
130. "Obsidian" - The Hit House                                                         (thanks, Anon!)
131. "Anthracite" - The Hit House                                                    (thanks, Anon!)
132. "Hydrogen" - Thea Gilmore / MIOOIN                                     (thanks, Anon, MB!)
133. "PEG" - Steely Dan                                                                   (thanks, Robert!)
134. "Zinc" - Aydio                                                                            (thanks, MB!)
135. "Cobalt" - Pyxidis                                                                       (thanks, MB!)
136. "Manganese" - Thelonius Monk                                                   (thanks, MB!)
137. "Vanadium" - Rustless                                                                   (thanks, MB!)
138. "Scandium" - Solxis                                                                      (thanks, MB!)
139. "Calcium" - The Future Sound of London                                    (thanks, MB!)
140. "Potassium" - Autophase                                                             (thanks, MB!)
141. "Silicon" - The Sound of Guns                                                     (thanks, MB!)
142. "Benzin" - Rammstein                                                                  (thanks, Free Radical!)
143. "Tryptophan" - Neva Dinova                                                        (thanks, Glen!)
144. "Dopamine" - Front Line Assembly                                              (thanks, Glen!)
145. "Serotonin" - Simple Kid                                                               (thanks, Glen!)
146. "Bakelite" - Pollyanna / Leatherface / Black Light Burns
147. "CO2" - Jim and the Povolos / XXL   
148. "Propane" - The Wrens
149. "Vaseline" - Stone Temple Pilots                                                 (thanks, Krom!)
150. "Endorphin" - Burial                                                                     (thanks, Glen!)
151. "Ruby" - Kaiser Chiefs                                                                 (thanks, Anon!)  
152. "DNA" - Little Mix                                                                         (thanks, Mark!)
153. "Ice" - Sarah McLachlan                                                                 (thanks, Robin!)
154. "Petrol" - Ash                                                                                    (thanks, Andre!)
155. "Amphetamine" - Everclear                                                               (thanks, CMOGuy!)
156. "Methanol" - Izzy Stradlin                                                                 (thanks, lastpook!)
157. "DEAD!" - My Chemical Romance / The Pixies                             (thanks, lastpook!)
158. "DEA" - The American Dollar                                                           (thanks, lastpook!)
159. "TFA" - Catch 22                                                                                 (thanks, lastpook!)
160. "Amitriptyline": - John Vanderslice                                                            (thanks, Anon!)
161. "Ativan" - Atlas Sound                                                                              (thanks, Anon!)
162. "O2" - Sleater-Kinney                                                                            (thanks, Anon!)
163. "Chrome" - VNV Nation                                                                          (thanks, H!)
164. "Paradimethylaminobenzaldehyde" - North Sea Gas                                (thanks, AlphaGamma!)
165. "XTC" - Die Toten Hosen                                                                      (thanks, AlphaGamma!)
166. "Cs137" - Ludwig von 88                                                                      (thanks, Anon!)
167. "Benzene" - Kagamine Len                                                                   (thanks, Anon!)
168. "Nitrobenzene" - Kagamine Len                                                               (thanks, Anon!)
169. "Para-dichlorobenzene" - Kagamine Len                                                (thanks, Anon!)
170. "Chlorpromazine" - The Agonist                                                              (thanks, Baltic!)
171.