Join Our Department Discord Server!

Just a reminder that we have a departmental Discord server, where we can chat synchronously and asynchronously. We started it during remote learning in 2020, but want to keep it going. Come join the conversations!

Here’s an invite link: https://discord.gg/gYT8Juk

Read the community guidelines, then introduce yourself in the introductions section, and you’ll be given access to the the channels in the server.

All DePaul majors are welcome! We also have alumni on the server, so its a great way to connect with former students as well.

Nobel Prize in Chemistry!

Every year the Nobel Prizes are announced in early October. Today, the prize for chemistry was announced. This year, two chemists share the prize for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis. Asymmetric organocatalysis involves generating chiral products selectively and efficiently. If you’ve taken organic chemistry I (CHE230), then you’ve seen R and S chirality (kind of like how your right and left hands look the same but are non-superimposable mirror images), and that is exactly what asymmetric organocatalysis installs in molecules. Even with the same connectivity, two different isomers (and R and an S isomer) can have very different biological activities. This is because your body is inherently chiral as well!

Here’s the announcement: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2021/summary/