[HN Gopher] Organic Syntheses (2023)
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Organic Syntheses (2023)
Author : divbzero
Score : 22 points
Date : 2024-01-22 05:34 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.science.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.science.org)
| WhatsTheBigIdea wrote:
| It's so good to hear about a scientific organization that is
| doing excellent, repeatable, high quality work. I wonder how they
| are compensated/incentivized?
| awjlogan wrote:
| _OrgSyn_ was /is the absolute gold standard, and partly why I
| ended up quitting academic organic chemistry. A key metric in
| organic chemistry is yield, ie. how much of A turns into B. Top
| journals generally required 15+ examples of yield >85-90% for a
| new reaction (unless it was _really_ novel). Reference that
| 90%+ figure against the typical _OrgSyn_ yield and you 'll be
| wondering what a stressed out PhD with limited analytic support
| knows that a team of real process chemists doesn't.
|
| Process chemistry is not a glamourous field, so people submit
| their results for at least some recognition and the journal
| editors replicate the procedures in their own labs
| independently. Their stipulation is that the single most
| expensive reagent cannot be more than $500.
| murphyslab wrote:
| Everything noted by awjlogan is correct in my experience. To
| add to the question of incentive, Organic Syntheses is a non-
| profit corporation since its inception. It's worth reading the
| organization's history page:
|
| https://www.orgsyn.org/history.aspx
|
| Regarding compensation, the model employed for reproduction of
| experiments is that students associated with the Board of
| Editors are paid to carry out the checking process:
|
| > Junior checkers (students associated with members of the
| Board of Editors) now receive an honorarium for their efforts.
| This change recognizes the more complex and sophisticated
| procedures that now appear in these volumes. Also, because of
| the greatly increased cost of chemicals involved in the
| checking process, checking editors are now reimbursed for their
| costs; it is no longer reasonable to expect their own
| departments to absorb these expenses.
|
| The incentives here are so different from a typical chemistry
| journal in part because Organic Syntheses is not engaging in a
| race to publish as many articles as possible, nor is it aiming
| for novelty. They publish about 20-30 procedure papers each
| year, which would be comparable to a single issue at any other
| chemistry journal. The subjects are well-trodden areas, but
| often in need of greater detail than is provided in a typical
| report.
| philipkglass wrote:
| The original incentive was the outbreak of World War I, which
| cut America off from the previously-dominant European suppliers
| of organic chemicals. This is the first part from the lengthier
| history linked below:
|
| _Prior to 1914, the industrial production of organic chemicals
| in the United States was very limited both in the number of
| compounds and quantities. ... Most organic compounds were
| imported from Europe; research chemicals for use in
| universities and industrial laboratories were imported from
| Germany (Kahlbaum 's Chemicals), Great Britain (Boots Ltd.),
| and France. There were only a few small scientific supply
| houses that distributed small amounts of imported chemicals.
| Indeed, organic research in universities and industry was
| limited to a few schools and very few companies. In 1914, the
| outbreak of the war in Europe led to embargoes, blockades, and
| destruction of shipping, which meant that chemical supplies in
| the United States were quickly exhausted. ... Since all the
| industrial plants and laboratories were in use, the chemistry
| staff at the universities began to increase their "student
| preps" to make chemicals needed for research. Clarence G.
| Derick of the Chemistry Department at the University of
| Illinois in Urbana, actually initiated "Summer Preps" with
| about five students in 1914 before the war started. In the
| summer of 1915, Ernest H. Volwiler, a graduate student, joined
| Derick's prep group and was placed in charge during 1916 and
| 1917. Oliver Kamm, a member of the teaching staff after 1915,
| also helped in the prep work._
|
| http://www.orgsyn.org/history.aspx
|
| The war was also the beginning of organic chemistry for many
| American chemical businesses. The one I read about most
| recently was Hooker Electrochemical, which started making
| materials for high explosives and dozens of other things during
| the war. Originally it only manufactured sodium hydroxide and
| bleach. There's a long company-commissioned hagiography
| (nonetheless containing a lot of fascinating historical
| information) available here:
|
| "Salt & water, power & people: a short history of Hooker
| Electrochemical Company"
|
| https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015070160174&se...
|
| To me, Hooker is most notable for its contributions to the
| Manhattan Project and the development of hafnium-free zirconium
| used in the first pressurized water nuclear reactors. To most
| people, it's probably most notable (if known at all) for the
| chemical waste it left buried in Love Canal. It was absorbed
| into Occidental Petroleum in the 1960s and no longer exists as
| a separate entity. The history linked above encapsulates a lot
| of the changes in American chemical businesses between the
| World Wars even if this company is gone.
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(page generated 2024-01-23 23:01 UTC)