In a word, my progress in Dr. Wang’s lab this summer has been steady. I’ve worked consistently each week, and I would guess that roughly 40% of my work fails just as consistently. As I described in my 4th blog post, this is because progress in chemistry is determined at least in part by the chemistry itself (shocking). It’s difficult to make some weeks more productive than others simply by will. To start off, a couple of less than glorious moments in lab that hinder the pace of my research:
- “Well that was supposed to react…”
- “The NMR is booked until [insert depressing time of night]”
- “My product was right there, and then it evaporated/degraded/ran away (who knows)”
- Feeling like this:
However, the other 60% of successful efforts have let me accumulate a still considerable couple of ccomplishments – aka products and methodology data. Examples of some very exciting moments in lab:
- “I didn’t even expect that to react!”
- “There’s open NMR time, and it’s not even after 6pm!”
- “The [n]th time was indeed the charm!”
- Feeling like Walter White:
In particular, last week the synthesis of one particular starting material and the reaction that I ran with it provided proof that the goal of my entire project is actually feasible! Sweet.
Lastly, I’d also like to include the increase in my general laboratory competence as another indication of progress. Becoming a better chemist is an especially important goal when considering the 40% of struggles in my research; if nothing else, those failed reactions still leave me with more lab experience than I had before I ran them. And I truly value all of my experiences this summer – can’t believe there are only 2 weeks left!
