The (possible) Meaning of Life
Published on 21/11/2006
Going home at 6pm, riding a bicycle under heavy rain, listening to the Interpol and thinking about what your pharmaceutical chemistry professor has just explained. Which is that the reason why physostigmine is unstable at low pH, as proved, lies in the carbon I circled, which is actually, believe it or not, a modified carbonyl.
This is not that mad if you can see (and I'm sure you can) the close resemblance to a ketal.
Can you think of anything better?
It's an aminal!
You said that, but I wrote what my professor said.
How stable is that phenyl carbamate at the left-hand end of your molecule?
I think it's more stable, when treated with an acid, than the aminal.