Paraquat, paraquat...

We had a Fraser Stoddart protege over for a talk today, and I have to say I can now really understand the appeal of Sir Fraser's chemistry. The molecules are really pretty and simple, the synthesis is really simple, the physical methods used are elegant and simple, the effects are simple to understand...everything just looks so simple! The appeal clearly lies in the simplicity and the potential applications. Science should be fun, but slogging through a 50 step total synthesis can tend to at least temporarily sap the fun out of it. In this kind of science, it seems the fun is much easier to retain. No wonder it's creating a buzz.