This blog is inspired by one of my friends who has a similar blog. He has two actually, one about general commentary, usually on politics, and one which focuses on his job as a gilded objects restorer. Just about anyone can (and should) comment on politics, but the subject matter is so common that it is difficult for one particular blog to stand out. Gilded objects restoration on the other hand, is a little less common of a profession. Unfortunately he doesn't update this one quite as often, but I'm getting off track.
This blog has an even narrower audience, but I work with equally expensive materials, so why not? The title refers to one of the most satisfying "minor victories" in small molecule investigation: the X-ray crystal structure. I had several such successes at a previous research position, however these molecules turned out to be uninteresting, at least for the time being. So far at my present lab, no crystals have been coaxed out of solution. This is not only disappointing in and of itself, but also makes purification a pain in the ass. Today's task is to purify the starting material, a heavy metal organometallic complex. Since crystallization is out of the question, we're going to give sublimation a hack. This is normally not an option for heavy atom complexes, but previously I've used a heat gun on J. Young tubes and have noticed the compound vanishes off the sides of the tube; very promising.
