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Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Chemists working within the field of organic chemistry specialize in particular areas of research. Their specializations illustrate the diversity of the field of organic chemistry and its connection to other branches in chemistry, branches like physical chemistry, biochemistry, and inorganic chemistry. Synthetic organic chemist Synthetic organic chemists concern themselves with making organic molecules. In particular, synthetic chemists are interested in taking cheap and available starting materials and converting them into valuable products. Some synthetic chemists devote themselves to developing procedures that can be used by others in constructing complex molecules. These chemists want to develop general procedures that are flexible and can be used in synthesizing as many different kinds of molecules as possible. Others devote themselves to developing reactions that make certain kinds of bonds, such as carbon-carbon bonds. Others use known procedures to tackle multistep syntheses — the making of complex compounds using many individual, known reactions. Performing these multistep syntheses tests the limits of known procedures. These multistep syntheses force innovation and creativity on the part of the chemist, in addition to encouraging endurance and flexibility when a step in the synthesis goes wrong (things inevitably go wrong during the synthesis of complex molecules). Such innovation contributes to the body of knowledge of organic chemistry. Synthetic organic chemists often flock to the pharmaceutical industry, mapping out efficient reaction pathways to make drugs and optimizing reactions to make very complicated organic molecules as cheaply and efficiently as possible for use as pharmaceuticals. (Sometimes improving the yield of the reaction of a big-name drug by a few percentage points can save millions of dollars for a pharmaceutical company each year.) Bioorganic chemist Bioorganic chemists are particularly interested in the enzymes of living organisms. Enzymes are very large organic molecules, and are the worker bees of cells, catalyzing (speeding up) all of the reactions in the cell. These enzymes range from the moderately important ones, such as the ones that keep us alive by breaking down food and storing energy, to the really important ones, like the ones in yeasts that are responsible for fermentation, or the breaking down of sugars into alcohol. These catalysts work with an efficiency and selectivity that synthetic organic chemists can only envy. Bioorganic chemists are particularly interested in looking at these marvels of nature, these enzymes, and determining how they operate. When chemists understand the mechanisms of how these enzymes catalyze particular reactions in the cell, this knowledge can be used to design enzyme inhibitors, molecules that block the action of these enzymes. Such inhibitors make up a great deal of the drugs on the market today. Aspirin, for example, is an inhibitor of the cyclooxegenase (COX) enzymes. These COX enzymes are responsible for making the pain transmitters in the body (called the prostaglandins). These transmitters are the messengers that tell your brain to inflict a great and mighty pain in the thumb that you just smashed with a slip of your hammer. When the aspirin drug inhibits these COX enzymes from operating, the enzymes in your body can no longer make these pain-signaling molecules. In this way, the feeling of pain in the body is reduced. Natural products chemist Natural products chemists isolate compounds from living things. Organic compounds isolated from living organisms are called natural products. Throughout history, drugs have come from natural products. In fact, only recently have drugs been made synthetically in the lab. Penicillin, for example, is a natural product produced by a fungus, and this famous drug has saved millions of lives by killing harmful bacteria. The healing properties of herbs and teas and other "witches' brews" are usually the result of the natural products contained in the plants. Some Native American groups chewed willow bark to relieve pain, as the bark contained the active form of aspirin; other Native American groups engaged in the smoking of peyote, which contains a natural product with hallucinogenic properties. Smokers get a buzz from the natural product in tobacco called nicotine; coffee drinkers get their buzz from the natural product found in coffee beans called caffeine. Physical organic chemist Physical organic chemists are interested in understanding the underlying principles that determine why atoms behave as they do. Physical organic chemists, in particular, study the underlying principles and behaviors of organic molecules. Some physical organic chemists are interested in modeling the behavior of chemical systems and understanding the properties and reactivities of molecules. Others study and predict how fast certain reactions will occur; this specialized area is called kinetics. Still others study the energies of molecules, and use equations to predict how much product a reaction will make at equilibrium; this area is called thermodynamics. Physical organic chemists are also interested in spectroscopy and photochemistry, both of which study the interactions of light with molecules. (Photosynthesis by plants is probably the most well-known example of light interacting with molecules in nature.) Organometallic chemist Organometallic chemists are interested in molecules that contain both metals and carbon. Such molecules are most often used as catalysts for chemical reactions. (Catalysts speed up reactions.) Carbon-carbon bonds are strong compared to carbon-metal bonds, so these carbon-metal bonds are much more easily made and more easily broken than carbon-carbon bonds. As such, they are useful for catalyzing chemical transformations of organic molecules. Many organometallic chemists concern themselves with making and optimizing organometallic catalysts for specific kinds of reactions. Computational chemist With the recent advances in the speed of computers, chemists have rushed to use computers to aid their own studies of atoms and molecules. Computational chemists model compounds (both inorganic and organic compounds) to predict many different properties of these compounds. For example, computational chemists are often interested in the three-dimensional structure of molecules and in the energies of molecules. The models generated by computational chemists are getting more and more sophisticated as computers increase in speed and as physical chemists create better models. Many drugs are now designed on computers by computational chemists; this process is called in silico drug design, meaning that the drug is designed in the silicon-based computer. Typically, drugs work by blocking a receptor on an enzyme (see the explanation for Bioorganic chemist). In silico drug design focuses on modeling to see which compounds would best fit into the drug's target receptor. This allows for rational drug design, or the use of the brain to come up with the structure of a drug rather than simply using the "brute force methods" of the past, methods that involved testing thousands of randomly selected compounds and looking for biological activity. Materials chemist Materials chemists are interested in, well, materials. Plastics, polymers, coatings, paints, dyes — all of these are of interest to the materials chemist. Materials chemists often work with both organic and inorganic materials, but many of the compounds of interest to materials chemists are organic. Teflon is an organic polymeric material that keeps things from sticking to surfaces, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a polymer used to make pipes, and polyethylene is a plastic found in milk jugs and carpeting. Materials chemists also design environmentally safe detergents that retain their cleaning power. Organic materials are also required for photolithography to make smaller, faster, and more reliable computer chips. All of these applications and millions of others are of interest to the materials chemist.
View ArticleArticle / Updated 03-26-2016
Because of recent advances in biochemistry and biotechnology, many new professions have been created for biochemistry majors. Those who stop at the BS degree often find themselves working as technicians in a variety of industries, but for those who go on for their MS or PhD, many more opportunities become possible. Graduates at all levels find positions in a wide variety of career areas, including forensics, industrial chemistry, molecular biology, pharmacology, technical sales, virology, horticulture, immunology, forestry, and so on. But there are more careers one might not normally associate with the field of biochemistry. Research assistant A research assistant works in the area of biochemical research and development as part of a team. They may investigate new genetic tests, be involved in genetic engineering or cloning, or help with the development of new drugs or drug protocols. In addition to performing typical technical biochemical procedures, the research assistant analyzes data and prepares technical reports and summaries. Research assistants are often also involved in the search for inventions that can lead to patents. They may eventually head up their own research groups. Clinical research associate Clinical research associates design and implement clinical research projects such as a new drug protocol or the use of a new virus for gene therapy. They may travel to the various field sites where the clinical trials are being conducted to coordinate and/or supervise the trials. The clinical associate analyzes and evaluates data from the trials to ensure that clinical protocols were followed. A background in nursing or pharmacology is useful. Technical writer Anyone who has ever read a poorly written technical manual realizes the importance of a good technical writer. A technical writer in the biochemical world edits and writes operating procedures, laboratory manuals, clinical protocols, and so on. They ensure that these documents are written in a way that meets government regulations. They may develop professional development programs for staff members and write news releases. Part of their job is to take highly technical reports and edit them in such a way that they are understandable to the company's administration and to the general public. Biochemical development engineer Biochemical development engineers take the biochemical process developed in the laboratory and scale it up through the pilot plant stage to the full production plant. They help determine what instrumentation and equipment are needed and troubleshoot problems in the scale-up procedure. They work to develop more efficient manufacturing processes while maintaining a high degree of quality control. They may also be involved in technological advances from another area and apply them to their manufacturing process. Biostatistician Biostatisticians are statisticians who work in health-related fields. They design research studies and collect and analyze data on problems — such as how a disease progresses, how safe a new treatment or medication is, or the impact of certain risk factors associated with medical conditions. They may also design and analyze studies to determine health care costs and health care quality. They are instrumental in the designing stages of studies, providing expertise on experimental design, sample sizes, and other considerations.
View ArticleArticle / Updated 03-26-2016
Some career opportunities in the field of biology include corporate scientists, university scientists, and specialists in selected fields. Biology scientists do not just mix chemicals in different types of glassware and perform experiments on animals. Some scientists, such as graduate students, those in postdoctoral programs, and technicians, spend most of their time doing experiments, but they also have many other tasks, depending on what type of scientist they are. Corporate scientists If a scientist works for a research company, he or she has meetings to attend just like in any other corporation. Scientists rarely work alone. A corporate scientist must keep the goals of the corporation in mind and work with others to gather information relating to those goals. After the information is gathered (through experiments and reading other studies in the field), the facts must be presented. Scientists read a lot and write often. They attend conferences to talk with other scientists in their field, and they try to develop products or services, such as a test, that their company can sell. They must keep track of financial information (science is a business, after all), and sometimes they must deal with personnel issues and manage people on their research team. They must write proposals and try to obtain research grants or funds from other sources such as venture capitalists. And, scientists also must take care of their equipment, performing routine cleaning and maintenance, as well as sometimes making repairs. University scientists If the scientist is employed at a university, he or she may perform experiments that are personally interesting, but many universities have research goals, just as corporations do. University scientists perform many of the functions that corporate scientists perform, but with less of an inclination toward generating profits and more of an inclination toward generating knowledge (which may then be used by or sold to big business). In addition, university scientists must teach classes and publish papers in research journals. And they must attend meetings and conferences. Sometimes, they write or review textbooks or are hired by corporations to do research. Specialists Sometimes, the “…ologist” is involved in the care of living things rather than just the study of living things. The nature of their work is more clinical — that is, they apply the information that is gathered rather than just focus on gathering it. Often, these biology specialists work together: An ecologist, who studies the way that organisms live in their environments, may work with a microbiologist to improve the quality of a river and the organisms who call it home. An embryologist, who studies the development of organisms from conception, may work with a molecular biologist, who studies organisms at the cellular level and focuses on genetics, to try to determine the cause of a birth defect. An entomologist, who studies insects, may work with a pathologist, who studies abnormal cells and tissues, to create a pesticide that does not pose a cancer risk.
View ArticleArticle / Updated 03-26-2016
Most chemists operate in two worlds of work. One is the macroscopic world that you see, feel, and touch. Chemists also operate in the microscopic world that you can’t directly see, feel, or touch. The macroscopic world involves lab coats — weighing out things like sodium chloride to create things like hydrogen gas. This is the world of experiments. In the microscopic world, chemists work with theories and models. They may measure the volume and pressure of a gas in the macroscopic world, but they have to mentally translate the measurements into how close the gas particles are in the microscopic world. Pure versus applied chemistry In pure chemistry, chemists are free to carry out whatever research interests them — or whatever research they can get funded. There is no real expectation of practical application at this point. The researcher simply wants to know for the sake of knowledge. In applied chemistry, chemists normally work for private corporations. Their research is directed toward a very specific short-term goal set by the company — product improvement or the development of a disease-resistant strain of corn, for example. Normally, more money is available for equipment and instrumentation with applied chemistry, but there’s also the pressure of meeting the company’s goals. What does a chemist do all day? You can group the activities of chemists into these major categories: Chemists analyze substances. They determine what is in a substance, how much of something is in a substance, or both. They analyze solids, liquids, and gases. They may try to find the active compound in a substance found in nature, or they may analyze water to see how much lead is present. Chemists create, or synthesize, new substances. They may try to make the synthetic version of a substance found in nature, or they may create an entirely new and unique compound. They may try to find a way to synthesize insulin. They may create a new plastic, pill, or paint. Or they may try to find a new, more efficient process to use for the production of an established product. Chemists create models and test the predictive power of theories. This area of chemistry is referred to as theoretical chemistry. Chemists who work in this branch of chemistry use computers to model chemical systems. Theirs is the world of mathematics and computers. Chemists measure the physical properties of substances. They may take new compounds and measure the melting points and boiling points. They may measure the strength of a new polymer strand or determine the octane rating of a new gasoline. Where do chemists actually work? You may be thinking that all chemists can be found deep in a musty lab, working for some large chemical company, but chemists hold a variety of jobs in a variety of places: Quality control chemist: These chemists analyze raw materials, intermediate products, and final products for purity to make sure that they fall within specifications. They may also offer technical support for the customer or analyze returned products. Many of these chemists often solve problems when they occur within the manufacturing process. Industrial research chemist: Chemists in this profession perform a large number of physical and chemical tests on materials. They may develop new products, and they may work on improving existing products. They may work with particular customers to formulate products that meet specific needs. They may also supply technical support to customers. Sales representative: Chemists may work as sales representatives for companies that sell chemicals or pharmaceuticals. They may call on their customers and let them know of new products being developed. They may also help their customers solve problems. Forensic chemist: These chemists may analyze samples taken from crime scenes or analyze samples for the presence of drugs. They may also be called to testify in court as expert witnesses. Environmental chemist: These chemists may work for water purification plants, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, or similar agencies. This type of work appeals to people who like chemistry but also like to get out in nature. They often go out to sites to collect their own samples. Preservationist of art and historical works: Chemists may work to restore paintings or statues, or they may work to detect forgeries. With air and water pollution destroying works of art daily, these chemists work to preserve our heritage. Chemical educator: Chemists working as educators may teach physical science and chemistry in public schools. They may also teach at the college or university level. University chemistry teachers often conduct research and work with graduate students. These are just a few of the professions chemists may find themselves in. Chemists are involved in almost every aspect of society — including law, medicine, technical writing, governmental relations, and consulting.
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