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Monday, November 14, 2011

Monday's Molecule #149

 
Today's molecule is one member of a large class. Give me the complete, unambiguous, name of this molecule to win a free lunch. Post your answer in the comments. I'll hold off releasing any comments for 24 hours. The first one with the correct answer wins. I will only post correct answers to avoid embarrassment.

There could be two winners. If the first correct answer isn't from an undergraduate student then I'll select a second winner from those undergraduates who post the correct answer. You will need to identify yourself as an undergraduate in order to win. (Put "undergraduate" at the bottom of your comment.) Every undergraduate who posts a correct answer will have their names entered in a Christmas draw. The winner gets a free autographed copy of my book! (One entry per week. If you post a correct answer every week you will have ten chances to win.)

Some past winners are from distant lands so their chances of taking up my offer of a free lunch are slim. (That's why I can afford to do this!)

Name the molecule shown in the figure. Remember that your name has to be unambiguous. The best way to do this is to use the full IUPAC name but usually there are traditional names that will do. In this case there's a trivial name and that will suffice.

In order to win you must post your correct name. Anonymous and pseudoanonymous commenters can't win the free lunch.

UPDATE: Several people got this one right. The molecule is prostaglandin H2. The winner is Thomas Ferraro. The undergraduate winner is "Vip" = Vipulan Vigneswaran.

Winners
Nov. 2009: Jason Oakley, Alex Ling
Oct. 17: Bill Chaney, Roger Fan
Oct. 24: DK
Oct. 31: Joseph C. Somody
Nov. 7: Jason Oakley


7 comments :

Vipulan Vigneswaran said...

Prostaglandin H2

(undergraduate)

Thomas Ferraro said...

Prostaglandin H2

Been a long time since I worked in a lab with them (or at all for that matter), but I recognized it was a prostaglandin and did a little Googling to find the right one.

Richard Edwards said...

Prostaglandin PGH2? (Formatting does not allow subscripts!)

Bill Chaney said...

Larry-

The molecule is prostaglandin H2. Its IUPAC name is:

Z)-7-[(1S,4R,5R,6R)-5-[(E,3S)-3-hydroxyoct-1-enyl]-2,
3-dioxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptan-6-yl]hept-5-enoic acid

I stared at the molecule for a long time until I got a headache. Then, I took an aspirin and it went away.

Best wishes,
Bill Chaney

RaulFelix said...

Easy, that's PGH2
or better,
9α, 11α-epidioxy-15S-hydroxy-prosta-5Z,13E-dien-1-oic acid
or better,
(Z)-7-[(1S,4R,5R,6R)-5-[(E,3S)-3-hydroxyoct-1-enyl]-2,3-dioxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptan-6-yl]hept-5-enoic acid
or more exactly,
(Z)-7-[(1S,4R,5R,6R)-5-[(E,3S)-3-hydroxyoct-1-enyl]-2,3-dioxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptan-6-yl]hept-5-enoate ion.

Dima Klenchin said...

Prostaglandin H2. (Had to look up the "H2" part).

Alex said...

Actually, it looks like the "pseudonym" is actually a diminutive of "Vipulan Vigneswaran", which can be easily seen if you click his blogger profile.