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EARTH-SHATTERING SYNTHESIS OF UREA by Friedrich Wöhler in 1828: "the synthesis of this small organic molecule was earth-shattering news. Chemists believed there was a clear distinction between molecules from living beings (referred to as 'organic') and those from nonliving origin ('inorganic'), and a 'vital force' present only in living organisms was required to convert the inorganic into organic. This was a key nail in the coffin of vitalism."" " http://lnkd.in/dqHXeRT View in LinkedIn

ORGANIC CHEMISTRY revolutionized chemistry. "The mid-nineteenth century saw the development of a radical new direction in chemistry: instead of simply analyzing existing molecules, chemists began to synthesize them—including molecules that did not exist in nature. The combination of this new synthetic approach with more traditional analytical approaches revolutionized chemistry,"" " http://lnkd.in/dqHXeRT View in LinkedIn

MOLECULAR DESIGN featuring benzene rings. A traditional synthetic chemist's view of nature's facility in chemical synthesis (with a dab of envy), to try and derive methods to replicate synthetic pathways using traditional chemistry. We are saved from this agonizing problem by using microorganisms to figure out the tough synthetic problems. This interesting analysis shows exactly what a huge leap forward SynBio represents for molecular synthesis. Nature does it best. " " http://lnkd.in/dYQwhWD View in LinkedIn

ELEGANT SIMPLICITY of nature's building blocks. Four amino acids code DNA's ticker-tape of life, and the creation of millions of species of diverse living things. The other main building blocks are both simple in basic structure but infinitely variable in the details: simplicity with flexibility. View in LinkedIn

KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID (Bill Clinton). "For years chemists have been making molecules to solve problems—each one more synthetically complicated than the last—but we still haven't come close to achieving what nature can do with much simpler chemistry. Nature's most complex component of life, the protein, is made from only 21 simple amino acids... it's not the molecule you have that's important, it is how it interacts with its environment."" " http://m.phys.org/news/2013-08-nature-chemistry-molecular-properties.html View in LinkedIn

68 MOLECULES KEY TO LIFE and "contribute to the synthesis and primary structures of the 4 fundamental macromolecular components of all cells: nucleic acids, proteins, glycans and lipids. DNA and RNA are produced from the 8 nucleosides. Although deoxyribose and ribose are saccharides, they are an integral part of the building blocks of DNA and RNA. There are 20 natural amino acids used in the synthesis of proteins." Glycans derive from 32 saccharides. Lipids are represented by 8 categories." " http://lnkd.in/dcAKDVr View in LinkedIn

GREEN NATURAL CHEMICAL RESOURCES (or feedstocks) need a primary ring structure as a starting building block for the synthesis of useful chemicals. Most useful chemicals today are complex ring constructions. Currently, most industrial and pilot-scale efforts are focused on natural sugars as such a primary source of organic rings derived from sugar cane or plant sources. View in LinkedIn

BENZENE RINGS ARE DOMINANT IN NATURE. "Next to glucosyl residues, the benzene ring is the most widely distributed unit of chemical structure in nature. The complex aromatic polymer lignin comprises about 25% of the land-based biomass on Earth." There is barely a single metabolic pathway in nature that does not feature a variation of a benzene ring structure." " http://lnkd.in/dYcFHFM View in LinkedIn

THE DISCOVERY OF COAL TAR BENZENE RING triggered the modern chemicals industry, because suddenly there were new chemical synthetic routes available from this single carbon ring structure. "More than half of the benzene produced each year is converted to ethylbenzene, then to styrene, and then to polystyrene. The next largest use of benzene is in the preparation of phenol. Other uses include the preparation of aniline (for dyes) and dodecylbenzene (for detergents)."" " http://lnkd.in/dz9pK73 View in LinkedIn

BENZENE'S SYNTHETIC USES after manufacture from coal tar. Why is benzene useful for chemists? "In both the US and Europe, 50% of benzene is used in the production of ethylbenzene/styrene, 20% is used in the production of cumene, and about 15% of benzene is used in the production of cyclohexane (eventually to nylon)." The benzene ring is also at the heart of nature's biochemistry. " " http://lnkd.in/dw824fh View in LinkedIn