1 Introduction
Further reading
2 Medicinal molecules
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Aspirin as a Therapeutic Compound
2.3 Key Concepts
2.3.1 The Drug-Biomacromolecule Interaction
2.3.2 General Principles of Drug Design and Development
2.3.3 Aspirin as a Starting Material: Synthesis of Salbutamol
2.4 Opioid Analgesics
2.4.1 Morphine, Codeine and Diamorphine
2.4.2 The Opioid Pharmacophore
2.4.3 Simplification of the Morphine Structure
2.4.4 Introduction of New Groups to the Morphine Structure
2.4.5 Why Morphine Works as an Analgesic: The Endogenous Ligands
2.4.6 How Morphine Works as an Analgesic
2.5 ß-Blockers and Cardiac Disease
2.5.1 Adrenergic Receptors
2.5.2 Agonists and Antagonists
2.5.3 First-Generation ß-Blockers: Cardioselective ß-Blockers
2.5.4 Second-Generation ß-Blockers: Selective ß1-Blockers
2.5.5 Third-Generation ß-Blockers: Hybrid Effects
2.6 Captopril, Enalapril and the Renin-Angiotensin System
2.7 Insulin, Diabetes and rDNA
2.8 Concluding Remarks
Further Reading
Books
Articles
Website
3 Riches of the Rocks
3.1 Introduction
3.1.1 From Geology to Archaeology
3.1.2 Geological and Archaeological Time
3.2 Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic Rocks
3.2.1 Three Kinds of Rock
3.2.2 Rock and Mineral Identification
3.3 A Closer Look at Minerals
3.3.1 Carbonates and Silicates
3.4 Metals and Mining
3.4.1 From the Copper Age to the 20th Century
3.4.2 21st-Century Opportunities
3.5 Fossils
3.5.1 The Nature of Fossils
3.5.2 Fossilisation Processes
3.5.3 Looking at Fossils
3.6 Geochronology
3.6.1 Biostratigraphy and Relative Dating
3.6.2 Absolute Dating Using Radioisotope Methods
3.7 Archaeological Chronology
3.7.1 234U-230Th Dating and the Pontnewydd Cave Site
3.7.2 Carbon-14 Dating and Modern Human Artefacts
3.7.3 The Boscombe Bowmen and 87Sr/86Sr ratios
3.7.4 Stonehenge
Further Reading
Books
Articles
Websites
4 Chemistry of Colour
4.1 Introduction
4.2 ‘Seeing’ Colour
4.2.1 Absorption of Light, Excited Electrons and Molecular Orbitals
4.2.2 Transition Metal Compounds, Geometry and d Orbital Splitting
4.2.3 Photoreceptors, Isomerisation and a Chemical Cascade
4.2.4 Perception
4.3 Coloured Compounds
4.3.1 Introduction
4.3.2 Pigments in Ancient and Modern Times
4.3.3 Dyes: Natural and Synthetic
4.4 Perkin, Mauve and the Beginning of the Synthetic Dye Industry
4.5 Conservation and Restoration of Historic Coloured Artefacts
4.5.1 Colour Changes in Paintings
4.5.2 The Bayeux Tapestry
4.6 Structural Colour and Dragonflies
Further Reading
Books
Articles
Websites
5 Communication
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Insect Pheromones: Communication by Smell
5.2.1 Aphrodisiac and Anti-Aphrodisiac Compounds
5.2.2 A Blend of Three Compounds and a Moth Trap
5.3 Liquid Crystals
5.3.1 A New State of Matter
5.3.2 Liquid Crystal Displays
5.4 Batteries
5.4.1 Voltaic Cells: Principles and Practice
5.4.2 Lithium-Ion Batteries: A Rocking Chair Design
5.5 Photographic Chemistry
5.5.1 Black-and-White Photography
Further reading
Books
Articles
6 Experiments
6.1 Introduction
6.1.1 Health and Safety
6.1.2 Chemicals, Equipment and Apparatus
6.2 Dyeing Fabrics with Natural Product Dyes
6.2.1 Mordanting Fibres with Metal Salts
6.2.2 Dyeing Fibres with Madder, Weld and Cochineal
6.2.3 Dyeing with Indigo*
6.2.4 Dyeing with Indigo Carmine, a Semi-Synthetic Compound
6.3 Gold Nanoparticles
6.3.1 Reduction of Gold(III) Ions to Gold Nanoparticles with Sodium Ascorbate*
6.3.2 Gold Nanoparticles as a Dye: Reduction of Gold(III) Ions with Sodium Ascorbate*
6.3.3 Gold Nanoparticles as a Dye: A Protein in situ Redox Method*
6.4 Photographic Processes
6.4.1 Cyanotype Photography
6.4.2 Copper Toning of Black-and-White Photographs
6.5 Synthesis of Tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) Aaluminium(III), Alq3, a Luminescent Material
6.6 Cholesteryl Benzoate, a Liquid Crystal
6.6.1 Synthesis of Cholesteryl Benzoate*
6.6.2 Analysis of Cholesteryl Benzoate
Further Reading
Videos of the experiments marked with an asterisk (*) are available in the support material
Books
Articles
Appendix
Glossary
Biography
Christine Bladon has many years of experience teaching chemistry to university and senior students at secondary school. She was Head of Chemistry for seven years at Harris Westminster Sixth Form in London, and her university research interests focused on the bioorganic field. Her publications include Pharmaceutical Chemistry: Therapeutic Aspects of Biomacromolecules.
Peter Wyatt is a Senior Lecturer at Queen Mary, University of London. His research in synthetic organic chemistry often involves collaboration with life scientists and physicists. He has contributed more than 70 academic articles to the scientific literature on subjects ranging from amino acids to light‑emitting materials.
