Welcome to Natural Product Man’s Observations
I’m glad you came, I hope you enjoy reading all about natural products – what they are, how to make them, etc. – and their potential to kill cancer!
There are multiple goals for this website:
(a) to keep updated with literature in chemistry/synthesis of organic molecules/anti-cancer compounds
(b) to be able to communicate with each other about things related to chemistry
(c) to practice freedom of speech and express whatever in general that comes up in mind
With all of the papers out there nowadays, it’s hard to distinguish between the useful ones and the ones that waste your time. Of course, it also depends on the individual whether a paper is useful or not. Hopefully this website will provide for everyone some educational, inspiring experience that will help us go out there and read journals like a fiend. And in the end, we’ll all become experts at communicating chemistry to the society.
Any questions or comments may be emailed to:
naturalproductman@gmail.com
And now for a short informational paragraph –
Total synthesis is the study of synthesizing complex organic molecules in the lab with flasks, stir bars, etc…Organic molecules are refered to compounds that consist of carbons, hydrogens, and heteroatoms (which include: sulfur, oxygen, nitrogen, and so on…). Interestingly – nature has a vast array of these molecules around due to the metabolic processes in living organisms. We, humans, have many organic molecules in our bodies. Basically what the synthetic organic chemist does is that he makes these products that nature has made in an artificial manner. Some of the structures that nature has made are so complex and thus very hard to make. However, with the use of imagination, hard work and the brain – the synthetic chemist can come up with a route (step by step) to make these natural products. The sad thing about the chemistry community in the US is that it is very small, and some of the professors are very strict and have inferiority complexes. That’s why if one is considering graduate school to obtain a PhD in synthetic organic chemistry – that one person must consider carefully the mentor that they choose (refer to advice for grad school here).
Robert Burns Woodward is probably the greatest synthetic chemist in the history of the world, who established many of the thinking processes that a synthetic organic chemist goes through today. You can find out about his life in the nobel prize website: Woodward’s nobel link
I would also gladly take any suggestions from you if you’ve found any neat methodology/molecule that will benefit the community.
Additionally, I’d like to add that there is a link for biomedical graduate students and their advisors – it is a compact between the student and the mentor from the Association for American Medical Colleges (AAMC). However, I believe that this compact should not only be just for biomedical graduate students but also for every grad student out there:
Also, check out this editorial on finding post doc positions:
Another link about bad post doc mentors:
Advice about looking for post docs:
Naturalproductman's Blog 