Elemental and Molecular Heritage An Internet-based Display.docVIP

Molecules 1998, 3, 94–99 molecules ISSN 1420-3049 Elemental and Molecular Heritage: An Internet-based Display Henry S. Rzepa Department of Chemistry, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, SW7 2AY, UK E-mail: h.rzepa@ic.ac.uk Received: 3 March 1998 / Accepted: 6 March 1998 / Published: 9 March 1998 Abstract: The background to a Web page describing elemental and molecular heritage at Imperial College chemistry department is described. Photographs are shown of the original samples of elemental bromine and crystalline silicon, and molecular ferrocene and mauveine. 3D Hyperactive models of these systems are shown, together with a recently discovered heterocyclic systems scorpionine, which like mauveine is made by a deceptively simple chemical synthesis. Keywords: Molecular heritage, WWW, review. Introduction My own personal interest in the departmental chemical and molecular heritage dates back some 30 years, when as a prospective entrant to the undergraduate course at Imperial College, I was invited for an interview. During the time waiting for my interview, I was left to enjoy the pleasures of the main lecture theatre, a magnificent building constructed around 1906 and demolished in 1996. At the rear, I discovered a display case containing specimens that dated back to the early 1800s. That memory has stayed with me, despite the fact that by the time I actually become a student at Imperial College, the specimens I recollected seeing were no longer on display. As it turned out, I was not to find them again for 30 years. My re-discovery of these recently in turn triggered an urge to share their background with others. Thus was born, Much like musical heritage, molecular heritage comes in two parts; a set of instructions on how molecules can be prepared, and an actual sample created by an individual or group. The analogy may als