Lousy Day

Don't know why, woke up today with a heavy heart. Suddenly felt depressed and don't feel like doing anything. Forced myself to have breakfast and dragged myself to the lab. The feeling was similar to when I first arrived here. Spent the whole day installing software into my new computer. The consumable funds had large excess and my seniors decided to get a new desktop for me. It was a sefl-configure one and consists of really good parts. It ran on the legendary Windows Vista and yes, I have to admit that it's extremely visual pleasing. I especially like the translucent and the Windows "AERO" effect.

I finally saw our book and felt it last Friday evening, all thanks to my junior, Shuhui for agreeing to bring 4 copies over from Singapore while coming to HK for holiday with his parents. The printing was a little disappointing, especially the first page. Other than that, it was ok.

I brought Shuhui around on Sunday - yum cha in the morning at Federal Restaurant followed by TST, shopping at Harbour City, Victoria Peak (too bad it rained), Italian food at Fat Angelo's at SOHO, shopping at Ladies' Street and Mongkok and Symphony of Light at TST in the evening. Since Shuhui like to "act cute", she (we) took quite a no. of candid shots:

Bumped into Philip in UST!

Lol. There's so much coincidence in this world. I actually bumped into Philip in campus, a fellow exchange friend of mine when I was here on exchange back in Fall 2005. I was on my way to dinner after 3 hours of marking the analytical chemistry exam scripts. And then, I saw a familiar face and he waved at me. Gosh it was Philip. Lol

Philip's from University of Pennsylvannia and we were first introduced to one another by Emily. I remembered the first time I met him, I was having some attitude problem as I wasn't in a bad mood back then. I was being sarcastic and high and mighty while talking to him. I remembered him saying something like "Oh I took freshmen organic chemistry during freshmen years and it was really difficult." I replied by saying that "if chemistry was easy, then I wouldn't be taking it." Lol. Hiah, realized my mistake now.

Though Philip didn't go travelling to China with me, we had our fair share of fun in the hike at Lantau, Ocean Park, dinner at Ngau Tau Kok, roasted delicacies back in Don's hall etc. He's now on an Asian backpacking tour after his Senior year and he will be starting work this coming August. I'll wish him all the best for his future endeavours.

Project X is out!

Finally, Project X is published (thanks Eugene for informing me). But what is Project X? Project X = Thinking Straight About Pharmaceutical Chemistry for H3 Students, a book written by my talented friends and I last year.

Once again, I will like to thank my brilliant team of co-authors - Eugene, Alice, Tian Xin and Justin; without them, this book will not be possible.

5 years ago, I entered NUS with a dream, a dream to write a book on organic chemistry to help students. In May 2006, I came closer to this dream when I gathered my co-authors and started writing the book. May 2007 marked a milestone as the book is published. It's not the end of the dream though; it only marks the beginning of similar dreams, and perhaps greater dreams.

Invigilating CHEM244 Analytical Chemistry II

Just came back from invigilating the Analytical Chemistry module. Lol. This is not the first time I am invigilating. Last year, I invigilated for SCHO as well (well, I set the organic Q, that's why).

Anyway, this was the first time I saw those act-cute students having such a serious look on their face. Must be stress out from exams. Ha. When I saw the exam papers, I was stunned! It was quite easy lor. I am no expert in Analytical Chemistry but when I looked through the questions, I can do at least half of them lor. Lol. I think if TX, Eugene or Wu Jiang do, 1 hour can finish already. The questions are straightforward lor - section 1: MCQ, section 2: short answers and section 3: calculations. *faint* NUS analytical chemistry exam is comparatively tougher lor.

Ha come to think of it, NUS's exams standard is not that bad afterall. Last time, Zhijie and I always complain but on the whole, it is better and more organized compared to those in HK. I like those questions by Prof. Hor, Dr. John Yip, Prof. Lai, etc. The most memorable one being Prof. Hor CM3212's section A (50 marks):

Examine the validity of the following statements. By using suitable illustrations wherever applicable, explain concisely (in fewer than 80 words) the problem(s), if any, in each of these statements.

a. Synthesis of cis-PtCl2(NH3)2 (cis-platin) is best carried out through oxidation of Pt(NH3)4 by Cl2, although it can also be prepared from reduction of PtCl4 in aq. NH3.

b. Since trans-influence is a thermodynamic perturbation, it may have very little bearing on the labilizing effect of a departing ligand, which is governed by a kinetic phenomenon, called trans-effect. This is particularly true in substitution reactions that are driven by an associative mechanism.

c. [Rh2(miu-S)2(CO)2(miu-dppm)2] (dppm = Ph2PCH2PPh2) is a good example of an "A-frame" complex. The Rh-Rh bond can be easily cleaved to accomodate an incoming small molecule, such as SO2, without disturbing the 16-electrons state.

d. Dimerization of [Re(O)Cl4] should be facile, since it can generate a dinuclear species [Cl4Re-O-O-ReCl4] with octahedral geometry at the metal. The {Re2O2} core should be a stable entity since similar {M2O2} configuration has been established elsewhere, e.g. in [Co2(O2)(CN)10]6-.

e. Ln3+ is a labile metal ion. Transfer of ligand from Ln3+ to other metals ions (such as Cu2+) is necessarily quick and hence the rate constant k is inevitably very high.

Lol. 50 marks for section A. Section B requires us to read a paper and then answer 10 MCQ. Sounds simple? Not really. The above is a killer. It wiped out all except 2 in the exam. I remembered Zhijie writing only 2 pages for the above 5 Q as he thought the above 5 Q adds up to only 10 marks. Lol. In the end, he got an A. Wow.

Maybe I should just focus on hydrosilylation

Sick for the past few days. Flu followed by diarrhoea. Though not very serious but it is certainly irritating. :(

Went on a short trip to China last weekend for yum cha and to purchase my favourite Mongolian yohurt milk. Lol. Went there with Stella, a fellow schoolmate working on polymers. I was quite pissed with her friend though as she wasn't at all appreciative of Stella helping her to purchase a Nokia phone all the way from HK.

Gotta know my commencement date from the web last Friday. It was on 4th July 8pm. Not a very good time though as day photos will not be possible then. From another angle, it is also good that it is held at 8pm; that will mean that I will be able to return to ACJC to give a talk to the teachers on Chemistry Olympiad Preparation. Lol. 4th July happens to be on Wed and so they are free after 1.30pm. I will feel weird "teaching" the teachers though as some of them were my former teachers.

Sigh, maybe I should just focus on hydrosilylation. For the project that I found on my own, I kept getting TS of more than 40 kcal/mol. That's really bad. A bit low morale now. For a moment, I thought I found the perfect method to do it (B2PLYP) but it conflicts with frequency calculations. Last week, I tried HF (a not so good method) and it gives very good geometry. But alas, the TS energies are too high. Maybe I should just focus on hydrosilylation for now and think about other things in the future.

We always have a choice

Feeling exhausted, both mentally and physically... ...

Recalling a quote from Parker:

"No matter what comes our way. No matter what battle we have raging inside of us, we always have a choice. My friend Harry taught me that. He chose to be that best of himself. Our choices are what makes us who we are. And we always have the choice to do what's right."

How veracious! Don't you think so?

Polymer exam & Spiderman III

Ha, weird title; the only relation that both has is that I did both on the same day. Lol.

Polymer exam, crab lor. The course was taught by 3 profs in 3 campuses, namely HKU, HKUST abd CUHK. Therefore, there are 3 parts to the exams. CUHK's part, was a bit crab. 2 Q don't know what he wants. Lol. So I just wrote some stuff that I think is the answer. HKUST's part, so-so. 1 Q also don't know what he wants. HKU even worse. The Q he asked, I think I can answer them without taking this module lor. Sigh. Not much challenge on the whole. A bit disappointing. I missed those exams in NUS, especially those of Prof. Hor's, Lai's, John Yip's, Martin's, de' Cruz's etc.

Following that, I went to catch a movie at diamond hill. I should have watch Spiderman III with my 2 best friends but since I am in HK, then gotta watch alone. I was a spiderman fan since I was 8 years old and I am glad that they brought the story to the movie. However, the storyline seems to have change to an almost unrecognizable state. Hmm people who don't read the comics feel that it's nice, good graphics, action packed, etc. Yah I agree. It's very realistic and many a times, the sound and visual effects made me jump a little. Ha. But I guess for all comics fan, deep down in their heart, they prefer to see the original version up on the screen.

Anyway, disregard all the above, the story on the whole was pretty touching, especially the last part when Norman Osborn came to help Parker. Also, the citizens of NY clapping their hands away, cheering was also a touching moment. Also, the part when Parker forgave sandman; hmm I think it takes a lot of courage and strength to say, "I forgive you". The ending was not good for Osborn died while saving Parker. :( I think Osborn did a noble thing, though I don't really like him in the comics (and the earlier 2 movies). Venom (Eddie Brock) was not too bad. The effects were beyond my expectations.

Whatever the case is, I am sure there will be a part IV coming. And be sure that part IV will feature a villain known as CARNAGE.PS: The actually storyline, in brief, should be something like this:-

Sometime in 1980s, Spiderman went to a distant planet with a group of superheros to fight the "Secret Wars". That was when he met the symbiote and subsequently, merged to gave the "black" spiderman. Following that, he discovered that the symbiote was trying to take over his mind and soul and decided to abandon it. He had a hard time taking it out and it was only with the help of Fantastic Four that he managed to get rid of it. That was when he discovered its weakness - intense sonics and heat. The symbiote hated Parker and found another host - Eddie Brock. Eddie also hated Parker for making him lose his job and since both of them shared this intense hatred, they combined to form Venom, which subsequently became one of Spiderman's greatest arch enemy.

Venom was "created" by cartoonist Todd MacFarlane and it appeared in Amazing Spiderman #299. He initially wanted to end it somewhere in #400 but everyone seem to love Venom a lot. So he thought, since I can't end it, why not "create" another one? That was when Carnage appears. Cletus Kasady shared the same prison as Eddie Brock in one occasion. When the symbiote came to save Eddie, it left an offspring in the cell and it binded to Kasady and gave Carnage! Carnage was very powerful, more powerful than both Spiderman and Venom combined. Both of them eventually put aside all unhappiness and join forces against Carnage. Venom is good by nature and he only attacks Spiderman. Carnage on the other hand, is a serial killer who kills for the fun of it. His famous saying is "I am killing you because I can.".

Blair is leaving office

Read at the front page of South China Morning Post after lunch today that British PM Tony Blair is stepping down on 27th June. I (plus Teck Loon, probably) remember this speech of his most strikingly:

"Can we be sure that terrorism and weapons of mass destruction will join together? Let us say one thing. If we are wrong we will have destroyed a threat that, at its least, is responsible for inhuman carnage and suffering. That is something I am confident history will forgive. If our critics are wrong, if we are right as I believe with every fibre of instinct and conviction I have that we are, and we do not act, then we will have hesitated in the face of this menace when we should have given leadership; that is something history will not forgive."

He spoke the above on 17 July 2003, at an address to the US congress in defence for his (and Bush's) "war against terrorism".

The report ended by saying that the world will miss him for his leadership and determination; we will miss him too, for his brilliant rhetorical speeches.

The above speech can be modified and be used in an argument in a "creative" manner. For example, if I want to argue with NUS Chemistry department to revamp the organic syllabus, then something along this line will be great:

"Can we be sure that current organic syllabus will benefit the students and give them a wholesome education? Let me say one thing. If I am wrong I will have remove an outdated and poorly-planned syllabus that, at its least, is responsible for the lost of interest of some students and the lack of academic rigour. That is something I am confident history will forgive. If my critics are wrong, if I am right as I believe with every fibre of instinct and conviction I have that I am, and I do not act, then I will have hesitated in the face of this debate when I am given the opportunity; that is something history will not forgive."

Lol. Sounds cheesy. Ha.

Too stubborn?

Went to lab this morning at around 0930. That was kinda late for me as I usually reached there at 0900 or before. Was washing clothes this morning and that explains why.

My senior Xin Hao then casually told me that if I am to continue with my Si cyclobutene analogues, I should not be expecting too much even if I get good computational results as boss might not be very interested in this topic. That was when I recalled him saying something to be over dinner yesterday along this line: "...为你的梦想去奋斗..." and also a couple of weeks ago when he was wondering why I am kinda persist over this project.

Looking back (and forward), am I being too stubborn? Hmm not sure myself also. Maybe coz this is the first project idea that I came out with myself and it is a potential new field (and my favourite as well). Although I met up with quite a lot of problems along the way, I will like to persevere on to see if my idea (intuition) is right.

Following that, I recalled what my junior said: "只要相信，期待就会成真". Ha, hope I am looking forward to something interesting.

Prof. Hor once said, "What is nobel/world class research? It is to create a new field for people to come into." For example, ever since Sharpless developed Click Chemistry in 2002, many people has been using it for all sort of areas that you can think of: polymer, molecular machines, nanotechnology, drug discoveries, supramolecular chemistry etc. I guess given my situation (and ability), creating a new field will not be possible. However, I will at least wanna work in a mechanism that I really like.

Since I can't create a new field, I will at least want to bring Singapore's education to a new height when I return to the teaching service. This will be done through my beliefs and teaching philosophies. One of my dream is to see the Singapore Chemistry Olympiad team getting 4 gold medals (Singapore's best performance was in 1998, with 2 gold and 2 silver).

We are always talking about "dreams" here. But what sets individuals apart is when you START to work towards your dream in a systematic way.

Doubtful, doubtful...

Gosh, just realized that I'll be having my first paper this Sat on Polymer Chemistry. Have yet to start revising. :( Gotta start soon though. Actually I am not so worried about this course; should be able to pass with a decent grade. My next exam will be on 31st May and that is on Bioanalytical Chemistry. Ha, kinda worried about that as I didn't do well in the mid-term. The module on Advanced Organic Chemistry II is non-examinable and I've gotta submit an essay. Whatever the case is, I guess I have live past the "grades chasing" stage. I guess I have lived past that ever since I returned from exchange in 2006. Lol.

Met up with problems in my research. It seems that computational chemistry some times gave us result that we doubted. The highly popular "B3LYP" method seems to be popular just because it is convenient and apparently, if things agree with the experiment, then it's publishable. If not, then gotta try another method or just dump it until a better method comes along. Sometimes, we will doubt whether the things we are doing are right.

I started working on this Si cyclobutene analogues and B3LYP gave not-so-accurate geometries and energies. I "dumped" it aside for a while when Prof. Wu gave me this hydrosilylation project. Yesterday, I read on a new method call "B2-PLYP" and it seems to give better results, as shown by several publications. I tried it on Gaussian 03 and it works!! It gave the correct geometries and most importantly, more reasonable energies. However, it can't calculate frequencies as it sort of clashes with the Gaussian system. I emailed the prof who developed this method and he told me to use another software call OSCA. I went to take a look and OSCA seems to be difficult to use. Also, Gaussian based software cannot open its file. :( Sigh. Then how? Lol. I emailed Gaussian too; waiting for their reply. Hope they will be able to solve the problem and allow B2-PLYP to be used in Gaussian. All these softwares... dont' know lah. I am not a computer geek. Gave me headache whenever I am reading the manual.

Learning computational chemistry has certainly made me more critical. Nowadays, I feel that a lot of research are blown up and they are not as glamarous as they seem.

Ha, sometimes I feel that when profs (and students as well) like to ask a question and then solve the question themselves. It's like "creating a problem that does not exist and solves it". A series of exchanges at a group meeting:

A: Have you considered solubility? From experience, I think solubility of the catalyst will affect the reaction.

B: Not really...

C: etc etc etc. Yah, just like what A said, the solubility will affect. Maybe you can rethink about the whole thing and come out with a better way of solving the problem ...

A: (realizing that actually it's not an issue) Come to think of it, solubility is not that important as the thingy is afterall a catalyst. As long as it has some solubility, maybe one molecule per 10000 substrate, it is good enough.

C: (realizing it but maybe coz of pride, wanna defend his last statement) Yah, but it does affect as well. It's still an issue as we never know how much is enough?

A: ... ...

Lol.

Revamp of Organic Syllabus in NUS Chemistry

Ha, looks like NUS Chemistry is kinda serious this time round in revamping the organic syllabus in NUS. It seems that none of the current batch of honours students bother to reply Dr. Zeng (the prof in charge of the revamp). Upon my junior, Suling's help, I drafted an email to Dr. Zeng:

...CM1121 was taught by Prof. Lai, my former Honours supervisor. He was by far the best teacher in organic chemistry that I have encountered and I am sure few will disagree with me in this. He managed to covered all the essential basic grounding in organic chemistry for us, with an emphasis on (SN1, SN2, E1, E2), nucleophilic acyl substitution etc. I believed whatever he has taught us gave my batch a solid foundation to tackle CM2121 and above. I have a bold suggestion for CM1121 though: it will be good if we can have something like CM1121S, which is worth 5MC. This is meant for those who are extremely passionate about organic chemistry and will like to learn more. The Math department has similar modules with a "S" code in their freshmen and sophomore courses (http://ww1.math.nus.edu.sg/undergrad.aspx?file=stu-modules#MODULES_OFFERED)

For CM2121, like I mentioned below, it will be good to maintain the teaching of retrosynthesis. I recalled the days when Zhijie and I had loads of fun discussing and debating about making a molecule. We even came out with weird looking molecules on our own to make; now of course we know that our routes were not ideal but it is the learning process that matters. The spirit of learning and exploring should be emphasize here. However, one thing we found lacking was that in most cases, only the conventional 1,2 1,3 ... 1,6 disconnections were emphasized in great details. This might lead students to think that retro is all about carbonyl disconnection, which is incorrect. Therefore, it might be good to "go beyond carbonyl disconnection" to introduce more strategies to the students. Of course at least level, we should maintain a "non-asymmetric" approach. Also, simple examples of total synthesis from the literature can be introduced to allow students to appreciate this subject better. I do read of some total synthesis who are relatively straightforward. I also believed that CM2121 has undergone some revision when it was taught by Dr. Lear (he did include additional stuff beyond the usual carbony disconnections) and I applaud him for that.

For CM3221, I really think that it was totally trashy (sorry for being harsh). During my time (and I believed it is still like this now, in fact worse), it was basically a repeat of what we learnt in CM1121 and CM2121, except for some additional topics in reduction and oxidation, which can be easily covered in 4 lectures. My personal belief for a level III organic module is that it should, at the very minimum, include the following:

1. Simple asymmetric synthesis concepts - stereochemistry, substrate control, asym aldol, chiral auxillary etc.
2. [O], [R], possibly asymmetric version
3. Advanced spectroscopic techniques like 2D NMR, CD etc.
4. Pericyclic reactions (Frontier orbitals vs. correlation diagrams vs. transition state aromaticity model and their interconnections)

CM3222 is more of "touched and go" in my opinion. I feel that we should focus more on in-depth understanding and introduce the students to stereoelectronic effects, MOT, principles of stereoselectivities and some other fundamental concepts in physical organic chemistry.

For CM3225, we can consider adding some topics in bioorganic chemistry; this is more so since the current year 1 have already learnt biochemistry in their freshmen year.

For CM3291, the whole lab manual should change to include a greater variety of experiments. At least, in my current institution (HKUST), their synthetic lab experiments are really good and thorough. I'll be happy to share if required.

CM4222: I don't have the opportunity to take it when I was in NUS :( But as conpensation, I took CM5121, CM5221 and CM5222.

CM4223: Asymmetric Syntheses' content is generally okay. I am currently helping Dr. Tan to revise his notes and the new set of notes will include some of my ideals. It will have more topics in organocatalysis, strategies in total synthesis, contemporary topics such as Memory of Chirality and Non-linear Effect etc. Maybe can introduce Green Chemistry as well.

Oh yah, I realized that the curriculum time for level IV courses are reduced by half (cf. level I, II and III; in short 1 lecture per week compared to 2 lectures per week) I think this is not good as students get shortchanged. In NUS Physics department, Honours year students get 2 lectures per week as well, similar to their first 3 years. Therefore I don't see why students in Chemistry should get less.

Finally, I think it will be a good idea if the department can gather the strength of its staff (and students as well) to come out with a set of teaching materials for organic chemistry (and possibly publish a book on that). It will be good if it comes in small A4 handy booklets for each of the 8 modules and it gets constant revision throughout the years. I feel that when it is accomplished, then all further improvement can be easily made from there. Everything starts with a dream and I hope the department will consider this proposal....

Hope that this time round, they will seriouly do something about it. I must applaud NUS chemistry for taking this initiative. It was one of Zhijie and my dream back then to change the syllabus.

A New Yum Cha Place

Received an important email this morning. After reading it, I decided to go for yum cha to take a break.

Finally, I went to HK island for yum cha. I have been having dim sum in Kowloon all the time and have yet to try those "legendary" places in HK island. Lol. I went to this Superstar Restaurant in Times Square in Causeway Bay. It looked really grand and the standard of the food speaks for itself. The dishes looked really nice, clearly showcased the epitome of cantonese cuisine; the price speaks for itself too :(. Here are some of the dishes:

鳳尾蝦春卷(HK$32.80)

蟹粉小龍包(HK$18.00)

蛋煎糯米雞(HK$24.80)

純鮮蝦餃皇(HK$32.80)

鳳凰燒賣(HK$24.80)

石頭魚餃(HK$32.80)

蓮蓉西米焗布甸(HK$12.80)

蛋黃千層糕(HK$18.80)

Walked around for a while and then went to buy a tortoise in Mongkok. It's called "snake-head" tortoise as it's neck is very long and moves like a snake. So cuttteee. Lol.