Chemistry in its element podcast – compounds – Page 5
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PodcastTocopherols
Mike Freemantle discovers sea buckthorn fruits also called 'beauty berries' because of their high concentration of tocopherols and tocotrienols, collectively known as vitamin E
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PodcastTrichloroanisole: Cork taint
If you've ever been unlucky enough to experience 'corked' wine, then 2,4,6-trichloroanisole, or TCA was likely the chemical culprit
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PodcastVinblastine and vincristine: Vinca alkaloids
Kat Arney unearths a story of an overlooked female researcher in the search for the origins of cancer drugs found in plants
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PodcastPolyethylene glycol or PEG
The simple polymer that preserves and protects ancient artifacts, and saved a historical Swedish shipwreck from complete collapse
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PodcastFerrous sulfate
The iron compound that has been turning oak gall extract into indelible ink for centuries, but is now eating though our ancient manuscripts and musical scores
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PodcastNitrogenase
The mysterious enzyme that can beat the world’s biggest chemical process when it comes to breaking the dinitrogen triple bond
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PodcastMelarsoprol
Cases of sleeping sickness – human African trypanosomiasis – are in decline, dropping 86% in Africa between 2000 and 2014. Gege Li explores the role that this toxic, arsenic-based medication has to play.
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PodcastOmega-3 fatty acids
Many consume cod liver oil due to 'a vague sense we should be taking them for something' – but what to the omega-3 fatty acids actually do?
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PodcastCacodyl
It made Robert Bunsen seriously ill, Michael Faraday thought it 'barbaric' to use in battle and even Fritz Haber – the 'father of chemical warfare' – abandoned it after a fatal accident in his lab. This week, Mike Freemantle tells the story of tetramethyldiarsine, otherwise known as cacodyl.
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PodcastEllagic acid
Louise Crane introduces the antioxidant that led to exaggerated claims that 'whisky helps fight cancer'
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PodcastMyristicin
The spice that gives your Christmas eggnog its distinctive taste and aroma is also a toxic narcotic that played an important role in international history
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PodcastLow-background steel
Post-nuclear steel is a little bit radioactive, so for some specialist jobs we need to find a source of steel from before the bomb
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PodcastTin chlorides
The compounds that put the 'tin' in tin cans and help you to reflect on your appearance
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PodcastPropanethial-S-oxide: how chopping onions makes you cry
Kat Arney’s investigation of the pungent chemical in onions is enough to bring tears to your eyes
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PodcastLevulinic acid
How one footballer's climate concerns led to the creation of a green chemistry company: the story of Mathieu Flamini, GFBiochemicals and levulinic acid.
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PodcastFuranocoumarin
Florence Schechter discovers how a seemingly healthy grapefruit-based breakfast could disrupt your daily drugs
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PodcastPhenolphthalein
Kat Arney gets to the bottom of the story of phenolphthalein – a chemical with two very different uses. If you've measured pH in a classroom or had some trouble in the bathroom, you may have met this compound before.