On This Day - Reflected Skies

Branford, CT  2012

 

2017 in Review - December - Filtration

Branford, CT  2017

I never claimed to be an artist, and todays technology makes it easy to create artistic effects.  This is what one gets using the iPhone 8 Plus camera and the "portrait lighting" setting.  I don't think this is what the engineers at Apple envisioned when creating this setting, but in this case I think it turned out pretty neat.  

2017 in Review - April -Spring Scene

Branford, CT  2017

My Workspace

Branford, CT  2017

Most of my work is done in this "hood", a ventilated cabinet of sorts, which keeps any potentially noxious fumes from getting into the lab.  Most of the time, my hood looks like this.  Sometimes, it might even be cleaner.  

Tools of the Trade-LCMS

Branford, CT  2017

I've been in the pharmaceutical business now for close to 40 years and have seen many advancements during that time.  This is one of them.  This instrument allows us to analyze small amounts of material and identify the components of the mixture.  Contained on this bench is a high performance liquid chromatograph, which separates components of a mixture, and a mass spectrometer which can identify the components of the mixture by their determining their exact mass.  This instrument didn't exist 40 years ago, but now has become routine, and indispensable to our work.

Extraction

Branford, CT  2017

After a reaction is run chemists need to isolate the desired product from the reaction solvent and by-products.  One way to do this is to partition the reaction mixture between two immiscible solvents, in this case water and ethyl acetate.  You can shake both solvents in this funnel, and allow the layers to separate, much like oil and water separate.   The product of interest is more soluble in ethyl acetate, so it is extracted into that solvent.  Hopefully the water dissolves all the other impurities and is easily removed.  The extract is being dried here to remove some traces of water, before the solvent is evaporated as shown in an earlier post.  Most times my extractions are colorful like above.  When I'm lucky, they look very clean as below.

Tools of the Trade - Rota-Vap

Branford, CT  2017

No synthetic organic chemistry lab would be complete without one of these.  The Rota-Vap is used to remove solvents under  a reduced pressure, or vacuum.  This lowers the boiling point of the solvents we use and allows them to be removed at reasonable temperatures under mild conditions.  The smoke you see in the bath is for effect only.  I accidentally spilled some dry ice in the water bath creating the classic chemistry lab/mad scientist scene portrayed in many movies.  

Trinity Episcopal Church

Branford, CT  2017

Authentic Indian Cuisine

Branford, CT  2017

I've had Indian cuisine on a number of occasions, but can't say it is one of my favorite cuisines.  I have not tried this restaurant though. 

First Congregational Church

Branford, CT  2017

Bus Stop

Branford, CT  2017

Branford Town Hall

Branford, CT  2017

Office

Branford, CT  2016

For the holidays we had a somewhat friendly "competition" to see who could best decorate their offices.  Fortunately for me, my lab mate is a very creative and talented.  She came up with the scheme and the decorations.  

Lab Bench

Branford, CT  2016

I've been doing a slightly better job of keeping my lab bench reasonably organized lately.  It's certainly much nicer than it was when first pictured here.

Fume Hood

Branford, CT  2016

My fume hood is not much better than my bench.  It got to the point last week, that I just had to stop and spend a day cleaning up.  That a good thing to do on a Friday.

Lab Bench

Branford, CT  2016

Sometimes my lab bench get a little out of control.  Chemists are trained early in their careers to never throw anything away.  You never know when you might need a compound that you made or purchased.  I think it's about time I cleaned this bench, before it becomes listed by the EPA as a "Superfund" Site. 

Laboratory

Branford, CT  2015

My home away from home.

Work at Dawn

Branford, CT  2015

The sun is coming up just about the time I leave for work these mornings.  This makes for some nice light, but really messes with my camera's light meter.  It's tough to expose everything correctly.  I spend most of my working days in the building in the lower picture.  

Tax Time

Branford, CT  2015

It's that time of the year again....  

Happy Valentines Day

Branford, CT  2015