Vasil Vasilev

Molecule of the Day: Curcumin | pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ac… Curcumin is a component of tumeric, and is sold as an herbal supplement, cosmetics ingredient, food flavoring, and food coloring. The molecule is one of the most widely studied therapeutics in history, with papers, reviews, patents, and other sources citing its potential for treating cancer, Alzheimer's disease, hangovers, erectile dysfunction, baldness, infertility, fertility, and any other ailment you can think of. Curcumin is described as a PAINS molecule, or a "Powerfully Active Ingredient kNown to Scientists." Its biological activities are indisputable - in vitro, it covalently labels proteins, chelates metals, does "the redox," aggregates proteins of all shapes and sizes, makes assay plates glow in the dark, disrupts membranes, and more. There are over 1000 analogs of curcumin published across 9000 publications and 500 patents, with almost 50 new manuscripts related to curcuminoids published weekly. Federal funds exceeding $150 million have been awarded for projects linked to the study of curcumin in medicine. With >120 clinical trials having been listed for curcumin, this represents remarkably efficient government spending at $1.25M per clinical candidate, far below costs projected by industry. Remarkably, the molecule is able to achieve all of its in vivo effects with 'abysmal' T1/2 <5 min and oral bioavailability < 1%. As Paul Erlich famously said on his deathbed, "PK/PD is for ninnies." Curcumin was selected today over ivermectin because innocent people may take this seriously.

The Musacchio lab is looking for a synthetic postdoc fellow! #chempostdoc Please reach out to me directly or apply here: wpi.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/WPI_External_C… . 👨🏽‍🔬👩🏽‍🔬🧪

They cannot and should not have to deal with all of the accounting errors, late paychecks, loss of health insurance, loss of retirement support, and several months long reimbursement processes.

@EvolvedChem Thanks! And yes, if you put RTX on prep TLC and scrape off the silica, the small amount of airborne particulate is more than enough 🌶🌶🌶 (so scraping the prep inside a hood or using a column instead is recommended)

@vhvsynth I'm dying to know: can you taste the spice in the air when you're making this thing? Awesome work btw!

It’s been an honor to spearhead this project - finally out! Grateful to everyone involved!

@thachdq Thank you @thachdq for the tips on working with SmI2! Otherwise known as spicy #salsamarium iodide 😁🌶🌶🌶

@LukasSpessert Thanks for being a part of this, @LukasSpessert ! You’ll write the next chapter in this story and I look forward to reading it!

Incredibly grateful to have been part of this exciting project and to be able to learn from my outstanding labmates during that time!

@longlabstanford @DanNomura @UCB_Chemistry They were certainly temperamental in terms of reactivity/stability 😁 but without the homovanillic acid side chain they shouldn’t be 🌶

@DanNomura @UCB_Chemistry Were any of the intermediates spicy?? 🌶

Hot and spicy Total Synthesis of Resiniferatoxin out of #Maimonelab!!…literally…. 16 billion on Scoville spiciness scale!! ⁦Congrats Maimone lab on this Herculean effort!! ⁦@UCB_Chemistry⁩ pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ja…

Tommy Terpene right now

@balint_gal Thanks!

@KHaelsig Thanks a lot Karl!

This is such an outstanding and inspiring synthesis. Congratulations to you all!

Dear All, right now Ukrainian antiaircraft defense take actions over every single major city in Ukraine. Russian missiles and aircrafts attack vital points for the night. We need all of you to speak up! Call your governments and big companies to act! #StandWithUkriane

Thanks ⁦@CraigMCrews⁩ for giving an inspiring BMS Organic Chemistry Lecture at ⁦@UCB_Chemistry⁩ today! Awesome to see you in-person!