/sci/ - Science & Math

>work in a small group, in a cozy but under-funded lab
>our current project basically relies on this precursor galactoside (phenyl β-D-thiogalactoside) as the starting point for all our syntheses
>until now we've been using this big batch that was cooked by this post-doc who left a while ago
>we ran out last month
>I've been tasked with figuring out how to make more
>been trying to get these fucking reactions to work for the past three weeks but the thing keeps anomerizing on me and giving me this disgusting sticky α/β mixture
>everyone's main projects are brought to a halt until we have more of this stuff, they switch to side-projects until I finish this
>pressure is mounting, it's killing me
>ungodly amounts of thiophenol are involved, this shit smells disgusting
>decide to suck it up and run the reactions on a fucking 80 gram scale, finish it off by running my product through this fat column as big as my dick
>Been letting this shit recrystallize in the fridge for a day now, I finally have nice pure fluffy crystals

feels good guys
pic related, monstrous silica column I had to run to separate the α and β. My mixture was about 66% β, and the rest of the reactions were high-yielding so it wasn't too bad (and we have unlimited galactose so it's all good). The rest of the α might come in handy later.