Explore with me..
This is a new section added very recently as an initiative to record things that spark my interests and I learn on my way. It will be a mix of everything, and primarily for my own benefit as a place for quick access to the links which I discover from vast pool of internet resources.
– Updated on Jul 19, 2025
Being an organic chemist, I love collecting resources related to organic molecules, mechanism, synthetic techniques etc. Although, vast amounts of information are available in dedicated chemistry journals, these are not quite accessible to public including myself specially when I am off-site. Luckily ACS Organic Division has unbeatable collections of useful resources for organic chemistry, can't think of bookmarking any other individual sites.
A quick off to Allison Frontier's "Not Voodoo", an old all time company since my first encounter in undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory. For advance level and trustworthy synthesis protocols OrgSyn is the best.
NMR is a daily company for any organic chemist. A great resource to brush up NMR knowledge is given and if you find it difficult then you may consider revisiting the undergrad theory part again (NMR booklist). My PhD works often dealt with multi-nuclear NMRs, and I found quite a few excellent resources for quick summaries of all the concepts: HU NMR lab, my favourite UoO NMR Facility Blog (couple of times the admin also solved my practical problems), Concept on Indirect Referencing, and previously mentioned ACS Organic Division.
There are plenty of sites and recent initiatives taken by organic chemists to compile handy organic name reactions, but again good old site Organic Chemistry Portal is wicked. Few other worth-mentioning sites I often visit Common Organic Chemistry, NRO Chemistry, Syn Archive, the mobile app Reaction Flash, finally one and only Synthesis Workshop.
After joining industry, I learned most of the process chemistry on training. Nevertheless, ACS has taken a great initiative with crash courses and guides towards green chemistry which also covered the overview of process chemistry. In the process industry, we are mainly interested in active pharmaceutical ingrediants (API) and there are huge database of APIs (a free but not up-to-date database, a paid version but extensive and up-to-date).
– Posted on May 16, 2025
The inspiration to dig into this topic came from a problem associated with an API that I have recently manufactured in kilo-scale. The colour was unusually yellow for a typical API candidate. During the specification setting meeting, a considerable amount of time was dedicated to the nomenclature of API colour that I was about to produce in plant. Analytical scientists follow a standard workflow to define colour but from human perspective a yellow colour can be perceived as various shades of yellow. Indeed, the perception of colour is inherently subjective. Our eyes and brains interpret colour differently. Factors such as lighting, background, and even individual biology (e.g., colour blindness or age-related changes) influence how we perceive a compound’s colour. This variability poses a challenge in chemical documentation, quality control, and regulatory reporting.
To overcome this, scientists and industries turn to standardised colour spaces. The CIELAB colour space is a widely adopted model that represents colour using three coordinates:
L\* for lightness; a\* for green–red; b\* for blue–yellow
Unlike RGB or CMYK, CIELAB is device-independent, meaning it reflects how humans perceive colour rather than how machines reproduce it. This makes it ideal for comparing subtle differences in compound appearance across labs and instruments.
Devices like the Spyder Checkr Photo offer ultra-matte colour targets and software integration to calibrate and correct colour in imaging workflows. These tools help ensure that photographs of chemical compounds reflect their true colour, regardless of lighting or camera settings. Design systems like Pantone provide structured colour libraries used in branding and manufacturing. They highlight the importance of consistent colour communication across industries. In regulated environments, such consistency is crucial, especially when colour indicates purity, concentration, or contamination.
Standardising color in chemical compounds isn’t just about aesthetics, it’s about reproducibility, safety, and clarity. By combining perceptual models like CIELAB with calibrated tools and digital workflows, chemists can move closer to a universal language of colour that is independent of individual perception.
– Started on March 09, 2025
In today's rapidly evolving AI landscape, it is clear that automation and machine learning are reshaping every corner of science including chemistry, a field once thought immune to such digital disruption. Just a few years ago, the idea of AI dominating chemical research felt visionary, but times have changed. With no formal background in computer science, stepping into the world of AI felt like standing at the base of a very steep hill. Still, I knew it wasn’t too late to climb. During my master’s program, I had a brief encounter with Python as part of the curriculum. But without any practice, those concepts faded into the background. So I chose to start over from scratch.
Update: I have rediscovered Python and surprisingly started to enjoy coding. Even more exciting is how I have begun to relate the commands to tangible problem-solving also potentially in my day-to-day scientific work. If you are interested, I have compiled a selection of problems I have written code for to solve them. Who knows? Maybe they will spark your own journey into learning python.
– Posted on Jul 22, 2025
We live in a world full of data. But raw numbers are hard to understand unless we see them clearly. That’s where data visualization comes in, turning numbers into visuals like charts and graphs, so we can make sense of them quickly. Whether you are checking the weather, tracking your steps, or reading news about the economy or health, you are already using data visualization in your daily life. It helps you make decisions faster without needing to dig into all the details. Using physical objects to display data and create visualizations may seem counterintuitive, but doing so can be incredibly effective and engaging. Check out this video on YouTube about some of the inspiring physical visualizations.
According to the book Fundamentals of Data Visualization, visualization is not merely about producing attractive graphics. It is about clarity, context, and communication. Clean, simple designs help people notice patterns and understand complex ideas. In science, careful consideration should be followed for presenting data as poor or misleading visuals can confuse people or even spread misinformation. A good read of science of visual data communication is here.
ObservePoint has some excellent tips for presenting data which include knowing your audience, choosing the right chart type, avoiding clutter, and highlighting the takeaway message. Simple steps like labeling axes clearly, reducing unnecessary 3D effects, and using consistent color palettes can drastically improve comprehension and impact.
Data is everywhere. But to truly understand it, we need to see it the right way. Irrespective of your profession, good data visualization can help you see the story behind the numbers. Further recommended reading: Storytelling with Data by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic.
– Posted on Jan 10, 2024
On another day, I read an article about tablet preparation. We have all taken tablets many times in our lives. As an organic chemist, I should have an idea about the basics of tablets. The overall process, which is scientifically called Formulation, is more exhaustive and complicated, but the summarized process is as follows:
The most important part of a tablet is the specific organic compound responsible for specific biological activities in the body, for which the medicine is being prescribed. This compound is one of the raw materials that comes directly from chemical laboratories designed and synthesized by scientists. These are called API or active pharmaceutical ingredients. Despite being the linchpin of a tablet, the API only covers a small percentage of the compositions. The exclusive outliers of a tablet are excipients such as lubricant, glidant, disintegrant, wetting agent, binder, diluent/filler, etc. To my surprise, the diluent can take up to 75% of the content. Some examples of excipients are magnesium stearate, sodium stearyl fumarate (lubricant), colloidal silicon dioxide (glidant), croscarmellose sodium, sodium starch glycolate (disintegrant), sodium lauryl sulfate (wetting agent), PVP, HPC (binder), lactose monohydrate, mannitol, microcrystalline cellulose (filler), etc. Particle size is one of the determining factors for tablets. Hence, all the components should be crushed to uniform granules before adding water and binder. After that, the wet stuff goes through some screening process, then dried and final blend. This is a process called the wet granulation process. In the dry granulation process, however, solids are blended by milling/micronizer. It takes so much effort to develop one tablet and lots of science work behind it.
Next time when I take a pill, I will probably bother to have a look at the back of the container to identify the ingredients and pay respect to my fellow community responsible for this marvellous scientific achievement, rather than taking it for granted.
– Posted on Jan 21, 2024
My PhD research focused on a very specific part of organic chemistry. Often, I struggled to answer the question related to my research program whether I was a proper organic chemist or an inorganic chemist. This is just as silicon, which is a metalloid element, confused with its own position in the literature of chemistry. Silicon has found a wide variety of applications in different fields of science due to its preponderance of properties those of metals and non-metals. While sometimes, I was able to catch the attention of general audiences by saying my research field was related to Silicon, I lost them in seconds when they got to know its disparities from silicon chips. Semiconductor field has nothing to do with us but engineering. Another group of people is baffled with silicone chemistry which is completely different and related to material science. This confusion was not only limited to general audiences but also to my fellow chemists and later on job interviewers. I even found it very difficult to fit my research work into conferences related to organic or inorganic chemistry. Personally, I strongly believe my research field is more inclined to organic chemistry. Although I used to study the fundamental properties of silicon species, all these compounds and precursors were synthesized in laboratories following typical organic chemistry procedures. Hence, I claim my research field be categorized under organosilicon chemistry.
I jumped into organosilicon chemistry without a prior background in related fields. On my first day at the university, my supervisor told me that I would work in such a field which would require working smart “not” (rhetorically, but actually “and”) hard. Arduous theoretical knowledge and perfection in laboratory work are the keys to success. I was very excited to know that a whole new experience of exploring the unknown was waiting for me. There is no end to learning new techniques in laboratories. Until now, I have spent time in laboratories in different parts of the world: India, Germany, Japan and England. Everywhere, I learned something supplementary to a specific technique. I always keep myself open to being taught rather than an adamant mindset of “I follow the way I used to do in my PhD or XX”.
Organosilicon chemistry of cationic silicon species, my PhD research, required extreme caution of the absence of air and moisture. Majority of chemistry was performed under either finely tuned Schlenk line or Glovebox. I have also performed a few experiments in Glove bag which is a handy miniature version of Glovebox but made of high-quality plastic and locally filled with inert gas prior to use. At the beginning of my PhD, I used to work with a fellow Chinese postdoc who helped me to understand silicon chemistry by heart and taught me most of the new techniques. In combination with literature study, I started to master my research field. I defended my dissertation with a total of five publications and published my last discovery after a few months of defense. Nothing can satisfy one more than getting newer publications in academics. I am not an exception to that. But, considering the challenges associated with my research field, I am happy with my achievement.
Will be updated soon, in the meantime if you have any recommendation for topics, let me know.