Dr. Condeiu Summary

Dr. Condeiu’s presentation on synthetic organic chemistry was a rewarding experience because he touched on some very important concepts. Not only did he mention many of the things discussed in class in terms of real world examples, but he also brought a human face to being a synthetic organic chemist, and also mentioned several examples of synthetic challenges he has personally faced. Dr. Condeiu showed some real life examples of themes we discussed in class. In particular, I found his example of how stereochemistry is preserved during the hydrolysis of nerve agents intriguing. I also found it interesting that Phosphorus-Oxygen double bonds are common in nerve agents. Although not surprising, I never would have suspected it. Dr. Condeiu also showed how chiral centers are important in reaction mechanisms, which I think was great. I also found Dr. Condeiu’s discussion of the business side of chemistry thought-provoking, particularly as it relates to the pharmaceutical industry. I was quite shocked when he

Condeiu brought up some instances of synthetic challenges he has faced. In one story, he mentioned how inexperienced chemists cost a company $20 million because they threw away the wrong phase from a separation column. It reminds me very much of the mistakes I and many of my classmates made in Organic Chemistry Lab made when we would discard the wrong layer from a separation. Another thing that surprised me was how some reactions have a hard time scaling up. I always took for granted that if you had enough money, you could increase the size of any reaction with a larger vessel. I learned that is not true, and doing so might actually be dangerous. One of my favorite lines from the night was the tagline, “small molecules, big ideas”. Dr. Condeiu explained that sometimes even the smallest molecules can have the best functionality. However, sometimes the contrary can also be true. Big molecules can sometimes yield small