Chemistry in Pictures: Funnel vision

Believe it or not, this is an unaltered photograph of the interface between two solvents used in a routine extraction procedure. Viewed close-up under ultraviolet light, the layers look like a trippy alien landscape. The chartreuse fluorescence of the compounds dissolved in the organic layer on the bottom resembles a lush green field below the violet sky of a transparent aqueous layer. The tip of a separatory funnel pokes down from the top of the frame with drops of the organic solvent clinging to the side like visitors from on high. 

Adrián Morón-Blanco, who performed the extraction and took the photo, is a PhD student at the Basque Center for Macromolecular Design and Engineering, where he researches conjugated materials such as molecular nanoribbons and covalent organic frameworks. Extractions are a regular part of the process of purifying the products of a reaction. Morón-Blanco says he likes to examine his crude, unpurified reaction products under ultraviolet light because sometimes what looks like an ugly black sludge under ordinary lighting will reveal secret fluorescent colors.

Submitted by Adrián Morón-Blanco

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