Taggin' for Science!?

October 18, 2011 7:53 PM

What is this molecular diagram?

This graffiti diagram was found in the public bathroom at my office building. I'm curious what it is, any ideas?

posted by axismundi to Science & Nature (13 answers total)

Best answer: methylphenidate which is also known as ritalin.
posted by sciencegeek at 8:00 PM on October 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Methylphenidate
posted by nasayre at 8:02 PM on October 18, 2011

Not sure exactly. Reminds of ritalin or other similar drugs. It's been a while since I did any chemistry.
posted by elephantday at 8:02 PM on October 18, 2011

I was going to guess a mind drug. Quick work there, sg.
posted by vrakatar at 8:02 PM on October 18, 2011

Also that graffiti spells lobotomy quite wrong.
posted by Justinian at 8:04 PM on October 18, 2011

For future reference, if you're looking to ID a molecular structure, ChemExper's advanced search will let you draw in a structure and give you a name for the chemical.

(also the handy chemist next to me in bed was useful)
posted by sciencegeek at 8:06 PM on October 18, 2011 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: I ran a bunch of typical drugs through google image search, but Ritalin didn't make the cut. Thanks.
posted by axismundi at 8:11 PM on October 18, 2011

I drew this, but didn't get any results, FWIW.
posted by vidur at 8:18 PM on October 18, 2011

vidur, you've got three extra methyls on your terminal ester. It's a methyl, you've got it as a t-butyl. If you put in the structure given, you get methylphenidate, Ritalin, [113-45-1].
posted by bonehead at 8:31 PM on October 18, 2011

Thanks!
posted by vidur at 9:02 PM on October 18, 2011

(Vidur, bonehead is pointing out that you don't draw hydrogen atoms attached to carbon atoms in organic chemistry diagrams. It's shorthand; it's just assumed that all the bonds you don't draw are hydrogen. So what you drew has a carbon at the bottom left with three more carbons branching off it, each of which would have their hydrogens. Also, your line off the nitrogen would suffer the same problem, implying a carbon at the end of that line.)
posted by introp at 10:25 PM on October 18, 2011

Thanks, introp. I got it when bonehead pointed it out. As a chemical engineer (though I haven't been employed as one for about 10 years now), I should have remembered this :)
posted by vidur at 11:01 PM on October 18, 2011

ChemSpider is another free source that has structure search.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:52 AM on October 19, 2011