#196

New College-Style Sweatshirt!

Melissa and Jam delve into the science behind ibuprofen, exploring why it takes around 30 minutes to work. The discussion covers the chemistry of ibuprofen, including the concept of chiral molecules and enantiomers—molecules with mirror-image forms—highlighting how only one form of ibuprofen works effectively. The episode explains why both forms are included in the medication due to production challenges and discusses recent findings about ibuprofen's potential in cancer treatment. Additionally, the show features various fun facts about ibuprofen, aspirin comparisons, environmentally friendly production methods, and more.

00:00 Introduction and Episode Overview

05:07 Chemistry Lesson: Handedness of Molecules

17:52 Ibuprofen's Chiral Nature and Its Effects

19:15 The Racemic Mixture of Ibuprofen

24:06 The Wastefulness of Chemistry

24:29 Challenges of Purifying Enantiomers

25:16 Economic and Environmental Considerations

26:28 Understanding Ibuprofen's Handedness

27:26 The Debate on Enantiomer Separation

34:45 Fun Facts About Ibuprofen

39:55 Green Chemistry and Ibuprofen

45:42 Community and Closing Remarks

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4276492/


2. https://thispodcastwillkillyou.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/TPWKY-Episode-29-Aspirin.pdf


3. https://www.chemistryworld.com/podcasts/ibuprofen/4011375.article


4. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/epdf/10.1021/bi010045s?ref=article_openPDF


5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4355401/ 6. Garret & Grisham Biochemistry Textbook

We want to give a special thanks to Bri McAllister for illustrating molecules for some episodes! Please go check out Bri’s art, follow and support her at entr0pic.artstation.com and @McAllisterBri on twitter!

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