what chemist do i need to be

What kind of chemist do you need to be to learn how to synthesize? Is there any chem classes for ethnobotany

idk what ethnobotany is (just like botany? but thats bio about plants not anything to do with rxns), but a good foundation of gen chem and organic chem will help you out greatly. Hmmmm synthesis mdma?? Synthesizing compounds all starts with a starting molecule, utilizing its properties of double bonds/lonepairs/functional group reactivity...you can add and remove and rearrange things. DO NOT attempt to synthesize in a half ass lab, it doenst work 1/3 of the time in a real lab (assuming your not a professional) so a half ass shitty set up wont work. Pure starting samples and compounds should only be used. Some setup you should study if you really thinkin on doing this wuld be a reflux condensation setup, distillation setup, heating mantles and galvanometers. Im about to grad college with a chem major and bio minor so any q's let me know

I need to know what classes i need to take to learn synthesizing. I might start up some college courses so i need to know what classes

general chemistry is usually the first step(prereqs). 2 semesters of that, gen chem 1001 n 1002 (1.5hr lecture 2xs a week +3hr labs once a week) or how ever they do it at that school. from that you go to Organic chemistry (2semesters, 1.5hr lecture 2xs a week, FIVE HOUR LABs once a week. Orgo will seperate the men from the boys in the chemistry world. its where you will gain the experience and knowledge to properly manipulate lab equipment and handle cmps correctly. Orgo will teach you the properties of molecules (aldehydes, ketone, thiol, esters alkenes, aromatics etc....). The knowledge you gain in class will reflect how committed you are to the class, doing hw and going to class will greatly help you out if you wish to gain the full spectrum. Organics is the BASE of actually synthesizing molecules, even with the knowledge you gain it may not be possible to do what you want. Lotsa hrs in the lab and face in the text will enable you to grasp all the concepts and you WILL be able to properly and effectively synthesize molecules. After orgo you usually do on semester of inorganic + IO lab. And from there you take physical chem:quantum mechanics and then pchem thermodynamics. These upper level classes almost always require calc 1 and in my school calc 2 is needed for the pchem series (calc kills me). From here you have effectively gained a ba in chemistry assuming u passed all core classes and whatnot. you can work ina lab, go to grad school, teach, research etc. The hardest part about synthesizing is controlling you environment and obtaing the right compounds and glassware

Well ty for that detailed info greatly helped me!! But that might be tooo much. I might sway over to be a botanist, sounds more fun.

I just recently started reading through this and using it as a reference guide for everytime i dont understand something about any particular compound i come across studying. It probably has a section covering anything you would want to know and is a great source of info. check it out http://www.erowid.org/archive/rhodium/chemistry/index.html

haha dont think that a bio track is any easier man. I took cell bio and genetics this year (finish my bio minor) and they arent easy classes at all, memorization to the max. Botany will be one of the LAST classes you take. If your trying to get a college degree in the sciences you better be ready to do some work. its not hs anymore and they demand a greater level of knowledge. be prepared to read ~40 pgs in a college bio text book per chapter.....you do about one chapter a day x's all ur other classes

Well after your 4 years its worth it. But i might not be ableto with me working 10 hrs.

Do one class at a time man, thats what im doin. I got 3 classes to finish my assoc. in business mgmt. in around a year that should be done and should be heading in some chemistry direction, preferably organic. If not for a career type thing at least to understand better what im doing. Im also trying to read up neuropharmacology, if you wanna see why things make you feel the way they do, its cool...

Hmm. Guess i will see if i can start with etnobotany then

neuro is only the nervous system drugs, take toxicology and ull see how everything reacts with you body and the precise mechanisms involved. dont be deterred by commitment, if you have some kinda interest in the topics, reading and going to class will be an ease

get on that ergotamine kick lol

I consider myself an autodidact.

Not heavy schooling for me.

Peace

Botany is also a lot of boring classification and tables to learn and think about. Not insanely interesting, the chem route i recon would be better.

True true. Well i shall look into it

you sound like me here, so I imagine I know pretty well what your interested in..... you're looking into ethnobotany because youve found some drugs that come from plant sources, and would like to learn more??? so you're more interested in "phytochemistry", a specialized area in chemistry..... in order to become well versed in the subject, you would need a basic knowledge of chemistry, i mean i degree, not just an idea..... and then start learning in your specialized field..... alot of work/study to get to where you think you want to be right now, so i'd advise making sure that you really have a passion for this before you start doing any schooling...

Oooh dudeyou nailed it 100% gogrow!! Yes thats why i want to do ethno plus i always loved dealing with plants and all

I heard some one say this some time ago and I think i should repeat it. If you want to study drugs for a living, then quit all drugs for 5 years and if you still want to study drugs as a living , then do it.

I'd start with organic chemistry. At most universities it would probably be a prerequisite class for most advanced classes anyway. Depending on what kind of chem classes you had in high school and the specific university, you might even have to take basic chem before you can take any other chem classes to begin with.

Or maybe look into a biochemistry major. I use to date a girl in college who was a biochem major and I think she is working for a pharmaceutical company now.

timeismoney1 said:

What kind of chemist do you need to be to learn how to synthesize?

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Organic Chem.. or Inorganic Chem (I'd go with organic).