What molecule is this building?

August 23, 2008 2:26 AM

Does this building's layout represent a particular molecule?

I believe it's the (old?) headquarters of BOC Gases near Chobham, Surrey.

posted by Huw to science & nature (11 comments total)

Not a chemist, but it evokes an organometallic where the metal cation has coordination number four (e.g., tetraethyl lead). Alternatively, a hydrocarbon with a neopentane-like central structure.
posted by Mapes at 4:01 AM on August 23, 2008

Hex and hex-like shapes are usually derived from a benzene ring type structure. In chemistry symbol shorthand, that looks like the middle part is a 4 carbon chain (like the four black nodes in cis-but-2-ene in this Wikipedia article about Butene). The outlying domes look like they'd be either metals or oxygen, nitrogen or sulphur (if a simple organic molecule. It'd take some figuring to decide what. Usually in chemistry shorthand, empy ends mean H, or sometimes nothing, depending on the penultimate atom in the chain and the type of bond.

The problem with the theory that the molecule represents something BOC gases was up to selling/making is that a molecule with that high a molecular weight is probably not a gas, but a liquid. There are, of course exceptions.

Given that BOC Gases is now someone else's semiconductor manufacture specialty gases division, I'm looking for corss-references...
posted by kalessin at 5:10 AM on August 23, 2008

Unfortunately, nothing in semi-conductor gas-land that I could Google looks like yr building. The closest match is C4F8O, which is a pentagram ring structure.

Theoretically, and I don't know how the molecule works in the semiconductor etching process, the building could be the chemical byproduct of the c4f8o etch, wherein, say, the oxygen is removed and the ring breaks, but from what I know of chemistry, it's far more likely that the fluorines would be removed instead of the oxygen (they're more reactive).

If you do get an answer, I'd love to know it.

Good luck.
posted by kalessin at 5:23 AM on August 23, 2008

Ignoring the extension on the left for a second, the central part of the structure looks to me like a benzene ring with three nitro or carboxy groups and one methyl or hydroxy group. Chemistry nomenclature can get a bit hairy since there are different ways of naming things and I've now added different combinations, but some possibilities (again, ignoring the extension) are 2,3,6-trinitrophenol, 2,3,6-trinitrotoluene, 3-hydroxy-trimellitic acid, 3-methyl-trimellitic acid.

The smaller extension on the left is throwing me off, though. It's six-sided, making me think a benzene ring, although it's smaller than the central ring so maybe it's a single atom? The connection to the main structure seems to be an ester or possibly a thioester since it looks a bit different than the other "oxygens". But if it's either type of ester, I think that rules out the nitro groups so that they have to be carboxyls. I guess you'd be left with something like 3-methyl-trimellitic acid 6-phenylester.

Regardless, I don't think anything I can come up with is commercially relevant so this feels kind of futile. We're probably overthinking a plate of beans here.
posted by Durin's Bane at 6:34 AM on August 23, 2008

They appear to be have been quite proud of it, but most of the stories I've found have been about the art inside or on the grounds, not the building itself.

Looks pretty neat from the outside though.

You could ring the local council, maybe someone there would remember.
posted by madajb at 7:18 AM on August 23, 2008

It should be noted that Durin's Bane and my answers are different because I didn't consider either hexagon as a chemical symbol but as a decoration. I was just looking at the lines that the straight roofed buildings were making.

It should also be noted that all of the compounds Durin's Bane suggests are liquids or solids. But that's cool.
posted by kalessin at 8:50 AM on August 23, 2008

I emailed their customer service account. We'll see if anyone remembers.
posted by jedicus at 9:58 AM on August 23, 2008

It could be a snowflake. My interaction with Boc has involved cryogens, especially liquid nitrogen and liquid helium. When you transfer the liquid from the big tank to anything else, the valve and the fill hose immediately get all frosty.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 1:09 PM on August 23, 2008

Here's what I got from BOC:

According to the information I have, the building in Windlesham was
designed to resemble an oxygen molecule.

Regards

Eve Cardiff -Customer Enquiries Advisor 24 Hour Team
Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]
Address: BOC Ltd | Priestley Road | Worsley | Manchester | M28

That "Priestley Road" is a clue. Evidently they are headquartered in the Priestley Centre. Joseph Priestley was a discoverer of oxygen, and BOC originally stood for Brin's Oxygen Company. That said, I don't seen how it looks anything like either O₂ or ozone, but maybe someone with more chemistry knowledge could elucidate.
posted by jedicus at 2:26 PM on August 24, 2008

Thanks, jedicus. Oxgen was my first guess too but I couldn't see the match either!
posted by Huw at 7:35 AM on August 25, 2008

Unfortunately, that building really looks nothing like Oxygen, which in the sticks figure diagramming visual nomenclature looks like:

O=O

This means there's a double-bond between the two oxygen atoms in your typical O2 molecule.

I just don't see that in the design of the building at all. It really looks more like Durin's Bane's or my interpretation of some sort of carbon-based organic molecule instead.

It also doesn't look like ozone (O3).

Also, Priestly didn't technically discover oxygen according to the Wikipedia article, but he did manage to publish first, which is the way priority is usually given even if in fact the timeline is different.
posted by kalessin at 1:41 PM on August 28, 2008