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Synthesis

Chemistry In Pictures

Chemistry in Pictures: Structure refinement in fructo

by Craig Bettenhausen
June 11, 2019

A crystal structure of limonene made out of lemons and potatoes.
Credit: Mai-vy Nguyen and Anthony Addison

Presenting the first almost*-all-natural 3-D structure of d-(+)-limonene. Mai-vy Nguyen assembled this thematic representation of the dominant component of citrus oil while a student in the Drexel University lab of Anthony Addison. For the structure, Nguyen used lemons as the carbons and potatoes as the hydrogens. Why potatoes? The team wanted something pale because crystal structures normally depict hydrogen atoms as white spheres. “Another reason is that the potatoes are firmer, whereas berries are softer and wouldn’t hold as well,” Addison says. “They were also more expensive.”

*Save for some yellow paint on the bond sticks.

Submitted by Mai-vy Nguyen and Anthony Addison

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