Ode to Nature

My early interest in science was awakened growing up in the countryside on the southern Caribbean island of Trinidad, surrounded by the magic and mystique of nature. My parents provided an early nurturing environment for curiosity, discovery and learning to flourish. I can still remember devouring nature books, anticipating Sabbath afternoon trips to botanical gardens and enjoying the teenage thrills of setting off calcium carbide explosions in bamboo. I also remember wanting to know what chemical ingredients in ‘bush teas’ alleviated fevers and colds. I would often, even now when on vacation back home, pick leaves of plants in our yard to boil in water and make tea.

Long before I learned about bioluminescence, luciferase enzyme, highly strained organic molecules and conjugated pi orbitals, I was seduced by the rhythmic light of fireflies and fire beetles and lured by the iridescent colors of butterflies. I was also intrigued by fragrant evening flowers like the ‘Queen of the Night,’ and fascinated by the ‘sensitive’ leaves of the touch-me-not plant. I wondered about what made mangoes so yellow and tasty, what caused the browning of ripe bananas, and why metals are sonorous while nonmetals are not. And why the aquamarine Caribbean Sea did not leave blue stains on ocean rocks and sandy beaches?

It is the nature of Paradise - from Genesis to Milton to Morrison - to stimulate curiosity, discovery and learning. Creation and discovery are why I love chemistry and its twin muses of transformation and identity. For me, as a trained synthetic organic chemist, there is eternal exhilaration in the creative journey from idea to scribbling organic structures on yellowed notepads, to designing an experiment, to conducting the experiment, to the anticipation of analysis and finally knowing if the idea was right or wrong. There is both joy and disappointment in experimental science.

I also find poetic inspiration in organic synthesis, which I reflected on in this original poem, entitled Synthesis:

Awaken by organic ideas

Falling like autumn leaves

From curiosity and imagination

Not as poetry or melody

But stick figures of molecules

Reacting on yellow notepads

Revealing something new,

A fresh draft, virgin thoughts

I haven’t seen before,

I haven’t felt before,

Ain’t been there before

In my mind a simmering of

Molecules, anagrams of atoms

A different process, new experiments

Thermodynamic or kinetic

Unplanned by AI or MapQuest

Open destinations, unseen applications

May go somewhere or arrive nowhere

Through broken bonds and rearranged atoms

Electrons move like clouds of swarming gnats

I am maestro of this molar mystery

Green and atom efficient orchestration

Ideas flow like rivers meandering

Through, around, about, in, over, under

New scenery, new territory, new stick figures

Of molecules prodding forward unbothered

To glory or oblivion, power or problem

Conservation or redemption.

The soul of chemistry creates

Tomorrow’s world like nature,

Ceaseless, ad infinitum.

An underlying nature inspired theme of my lab research program is novel juxtapositioning of organic functional groups in small molecules and investigation of their emergent chemical, physical and biological properties. This bio-inspired approach guides and informs my work in projects such as: (a) Boronic Acid Substituted Flavonoids: New Paradigms for Biologic and Non-Biologic Materials, (b) Lewis Acid Catalyzed Electrophilic Carbonyl Additions: Synthesis of Novel α-Functionalized Acylals, (c) Synthesis, Spectroscopy and Molecular Sensor Applications of Novel Chalcone Stilbenes, (d) Synthesis of Hybrid Molecules as Potential Bioactive (e.g. anticancer, antimicrobial, anti-bipolar disorder) Agents, (e) Synthesis and Novel Conjugated Azooxime Molecular Sensors and Dyes, and (f) Synthesis, Reactivity and Bioactivity of Novel Amidoximes.

My interest in molecular sensors comes in part from observing and knowing the color changes of Hydrangea in different soils, or from the use of purple cabbage juice as an acid base indicator. Investigation and exploration of fruit juices and enzymes to catalyze multiple organic reactions, ranging from Knoevenagel condensations to azo dye synthesis, is inspired by the green nonpolluting chemical reactions of the natural world.

I enjoy walking in nature and capturing its’ sights and sounds in photos and videos. I often muse and wonder if there will ever be a way that technology will allow us to also capture the odor and feel of nature. Until then, I hope the images in the playlists and photo gallery bring you closer to the awe and peace, joy and inspiration, I find in being outdoors in nature.

airplanesunsets@bestearly, animals@bestearly, ants@bestearly, bees@bestearly, birds@bestearly, butterflies@bestearly, clouds@bestearly, dazzle@bestearly, driving@bestearly, fallleaves@bestearly, fish@bestearly, flowers@bestearly, flyingflocks@bestearly, fog@bestearly, fruits@bestearly, insects@bestearly, lightning@bestearly, moon@bestearly, naturescapes@bestearly, neil@bestearly, plants@bestearly, rain@bestearly, rockywaves@bestearly, sand@bestearly, serenity@bestearly, snow@bestearly, sunrise@bestearly, sunset@bestearly, water@bestearly, waterstriders@bestearly, wind@bestearly.

The nature@bestearly playlist and photo gallery shown below represents a selection of images from the playlists above.