Author Archives: Robert Slinn

Robert Slinn

Robert Slinn is the guest "Slinn Pickings" columnist for ChemSpy.com, having previously written a column of the same name for sibling site ReactiveReports.com Robert is a Chartered Chemist (CChem), Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (MRSC). He has extensive experience in R&D: synthesis, analysis and analytical methods development; troubleshooting, consultancy, and teaching/training methods in industry and in academe. He is also a Visiting Researcher in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Liverpool and 'Physical Methods' author for the Specialist Periodical Report series 'Organophosphorus Chemistry', Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, UK. Robert has worked alongside ChemSpy's David Bradley on several chemistry publications over the last couple of years (including the soon to be published Bedside Book of Chemistry) and is currently consultant researcher with David on a major report into the state of the pharma industry to be published as part of the IYC11 celebrations.

The quest for sugars involved in origin of life

February 22, 2012 – 4:00 am
  • The quest for sugars involved in origin of life - A team from University of the Basque Country have managed to isolate a sugar -- a ribose -- in the gas phase, and to characterize a number of its structures. The article has been published by the Angewandte Chemie International Edition.
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    Mini-cellulose molecule could boost biofuels

    February 21, 2012 – 2:00 pm
  • UMass Amherst Chemical Engineers Discover ‘Mini-Cellulose’ Molecule That May be Key to Maximizing Biofuel Production - Chemical engineers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have discovered a small molecule that behaves the same as cellulose when it is converted to biofuel. Studying this "mini-cellulose" molecule reveals for the first time the chemical reactions that take place in wood and prairie grasses during high-temperature conversion to biofuel. The new technical discovery was reported in the January 2012 issue of the journal Energy & Environmental Science and highlighted in Nature Chemistry.
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    How the tiger really earned his stripes

    February 21, 2012 – 1:00 pm
  • Scientists prove Turing's tiger stripe theory - Researchers from King's College London have provided the first experimental evidence confirming a great British mathematician's theory of how biological patterns such as tiger stripes or leopard spots are formed.
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    Drugs for preventing childhood ‘absence seizures’

    February 21, 2012 – 12:00 am
  • New drugs show promise for preventing 'absence seizures' in children - A team led by a University of British Columbia professor has developed a new class of drugs that completely suppress absence seizures – a brief, sudden loss of consciousness – in rats, and which are now being tested in humans.
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    Consistent Avogadro number a step nearer

    February 20, 2012 – 10:00 am
  • Consistent Avogadro number a step nearer - Chemical metrologists in Canada have made the most accurate measurement of silicon's molecular weight to date in a bid to derive a consistent and internationally acceptable figure for the Avogadro constant. The work forms a key part of the redefinition of the kilogram, agreed last year by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures.
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