The SOC continues to nurture their target until finally it comes shining into existence. You've watched it grow, seen it make bad choices and even seen it fall apart in the face of tough conditions. It's a big day in the life of a synthetic organic chemistry, the day you bring your molecule into the world. That's right, after months of hard work, I finished my target.

On Friday, June 17th, they succeed in making neatoside F and celebrate with cupcakes! Synthetic organic chemists (like me!) decide it's a worthwhile target and try to make neatoside FĦ. Neat-o, disease-killing chemical is published and given a fancy name like Neatoside Fĥ. The biologists look for activity against human diseaseĤ. Neat-o chemicals are tested against many, many cell screens. Sea sponge is extracted and lots of neat-o chemicals are found inside of the sea spongeģ. Sea sponge (or plant or animal or dirt) is collected by isolation chemistsĢ. Here is a step-by-step explanation of why a synthetic organic chemist does what they do.ġ. As a graduate student and postdoctoral associate I have been making natural products for the past eight years. Is this any less of an oxymoron? I'm not really sure. You can also call me a natural products chemist. Are you confused yet? Most people just walk away. As an explanation I tell them that I make chemicals synthetically that are naturally found in nature. My job title is 'synthetic organic chemist.' When I tell people this I get many, many looks of confusion. Because I ran eleven miles on Saturday and totally deserve them. Now I'm nursing my wounds and walking very slowly down the stairs. I crossed the finish line, accepted my fancy medal and located my sad boyfriend. Good thing I didn't know about the tornado warning. With only two miles to go, the heavens opened up and the racers and I were sprinting to the finish line through sheets of rain, it was way dramatic. Luckily there was lots of fun to be had in the last four miles, including a 200-foot rock scramble to the top of the last hill, 9 & 10-foot walls to climb, monkey bars, mud slides, A-frames and. Boyfriend was struck down by a serious migraine and I had to finish the last four miles on my own. We swam through a lake, climbed over wall, flipped huge tractor tires but at mile 7, I was on my own.

He pushed me to keep going up those hills and I kept him running through the woods.

After the first two miles, boyfriend and I found our pace.

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