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Temozolomide Is Explosive

blogs.sciencemag.org

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Re: Temozolomide Is Explosive

#111

Post by tyingq »

thewakalix wrote: post #98
tyingq wrote: post #35

Maybe helpful to note that the phrase "Class 1 Explosive" isn't denoting a certain type, or power of "Explosive". "Class 1" in Hazmat is all explosives. Class 2 is Gases. Class 3 is Flammable or Combustible liquid, and so on.

Similar to "200 OK", where the number is the important part and the text is just an informative description?

No, meaning that only "Class 1" are explosives. Other classes are not explosives. The classes are US DOT types of hazardous materials you might ship. Like "Class 6" is poisons.

In other words, there's no "Class 2" or "Class 3" explosives. If it's explosive, it's "Class 1", including firecrackers.

Re: Temozolomide Is Explosive

#112

Post by lazide »

EE84M3i wrote: post #96
dogorman wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Really? Doesn't something being explosive mean it's highly unstable and reactive? Not particularly, no. Some certainly are, but others require a great deal of activation energy to detonate. Nitroglycerine (another explosive medication) is notoriously touchy. But C4 is only mildly flammable; you can heat up your meal by lighting a piece of C4 on fire then put the fire out by smashing it with a hammer; it won't deton…

Sure, but in this context, the drug we're talking about exploded with a drop hammer test, right? That seems more like nitroglycerin than C4.

Nitroglycerin is also a therapeutic drug, and only toxic if you overdose - and isn’t used for chemotherapy. They’re tangential properties at best.

Re: Temozolomide Is Explosive

#113

Post by lazide »

marzell wrote: post #99
azinman2 wrote: post #6

Chemotherapy is basically cave man medicine. That a therapeutic drug is explosive only adds to that sentiment. The idea that we'll basically poison you just up to a point that's nearly fatal in order to kill the cancer is such a terrible way to treat someone. Now I'm not saying don't ever do it -- unfortunately that's where we're at in 2021. It's just kind of unbelievable that cancer remains so elusive that we're sti…

"That a therapeutic drug is explosive..." seems sensationalistic. Reminds me of when people say things like "x contains chemicals used in x!". What's the practical problem with this?

For one, it’s probably pretty lucky the plant that makes it hasn’t exploded yet. The workers and neighbors probably benefit from knowing?

Re: Temozolomide Is Explosive

#114

Post by soco »

dragonwriter wrote: post #83
dredmorbius wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A rather surprising number of chemo compounds trace directly to chemical warfare and compounds used during WWI, including several mustard-gas-related compounds. Some years ago, a close friend died of a relatively rare and aggressive form of cancer. Among my roles was running interference against those who were pitching various miracle cures, with that tired old scam laetril playing a significant role. In the decades…

> and virtually always due to genetic mutation within the affected cells I haven't followed up on this, but I seem to remember hearing about research about 20 years ago that even with cancer-associated mutations, cancer usually required physical damage to the intercellular matrix before it would manifest. If that's true, I’m not sure identifying the genetic mutations as the cause (at least the proximate cause) of can…

Indeed, because otherwise a crispr based therapy could be easily imagined...

Re: Temozolomide Is Explosive

#115

Post by rbanffy »

jldugger wrote: post #103
rbanffy wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just by looking at it I get the impression every part of the molecule has a deep hatred for every other part.

Nah, it's more like a wedding reception -- every Nitrogen atom is just super eager to form an exclusive pairing next.

Those molecules can’t keep it together

Re: Temozolomide Is Explosive

#116

Post by Tuna-Fish »

short_sells_poo wrote: post #69
lmilcin wrote: post #10

I mean, seriously, just look at the molecule. All those nitrogen atoms lying there restless to each go their own separate way:) I would be surprised if it wasn't.

I think some (many) blood vessel dilation meds are based on nitroglycerin :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitroglycerin_(medication) I certainly remember looking with great suspicion at my granddad's medicine and was very much disappointed when my attempts to light his pills on fire did not yield rapid and uncontrolled decomposition.

Burning nitroglycerin does not make it explode.

Miners used to burn it in their headlamps when they found that it burns with a cleaner flame than the alternatives they had. This was obviously violently opposed to by the mine owners -- less so because of the explosion hazard, and more so because it's way more expensive than lamp oil.

Re: Temozolomide Is Explosive

#117

Post by rob74 »

Arrath wrote: post #53
tyingq wrote: post #35

Maybe helpful to note that the phrase "Class 1 Explosive" isn't denoting a certain type, or power of "Explosive". "Class 1" in Hazmat is all explosives. Class 2 is Gases. Class 3 is Flammable or Combustible liquid, and so on.

Fair point. The sub-classification gets into those weeds. For example: 1.1 being "mass explosion hazard", typically high-explosives. 1.4 being "fire or projection hazard", typically consumer fireworks, small arms ammunition. 1.5 is "may mass explode in fire", things like AN fertilizer (Beirut; West, Texas), many industrial blasting agents.

Where would flour fit in in this classification? I assume it's less explosive than fertilizer, but flour dust suspended in air can also explode...

Re: Temozolomide Is Explosive

#118

Post by jsbdk »

aazaa wrote: post #72

The chemical structure is the clue to the explosive potential. The N-N-N triad is a strange beast that shows up in a lot of explosive materials. They're explosive for similar reasons that ammonia nitrate is explosive. https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23399-texas-disaster-... Think of energy as a vertical scale increasing upward. Including a nitrogen triad (like in the drug) pushes the entire molecule up on the…

>The chemical structure is the clue to the explosive potential. The N-N-N triad is a strange beast that shows up in a lot of explosive materials.

This makes me wonder - what properties of a substance can you infer from its structure without ever testing the substance itself?

Re: Temozolomide Is Explosive

#119

Post by Gatsky »

azinman2 wrote: post #104
Gatsky wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a very ignorant and low effort comment. Let me illustrate: > Chemotherapy is basically cave man medicine A meaningless statement. Actually, there is a sophisticated system of diagnosis and staging to work out who needs chemotherapy at all. This includes CT scans, ultrasound, MRI, positron emission tomorography. Chemotherapy agents are modern pharmaceuticals with a variety of supportive care measures to help p…

Not only did you misinterpret a lot of what I said (including the fact that I wasn't particularly making an argument, but rather an observation and opinion), your aggressive response certainly doesn't invite dialog and is in violation of multiple HN guidelines. I suggest you read them and consider being kinder in your word choice.

My tone was inappropriate, you didn’t deserve that. It was unnecessary and rude. I’m sorry. Thank you for making a levelheaded reply.

Re: Temozolomide Is Explosive

#120

Post by lmm »

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #47
dylan604 wrote: post #7

"What they found was rapid onset of decomposition at 170 degrees" So this seems to be more about people in a lab situation rather than it being so unstable it reacting sitting in someone's hot car. Suspecting it to react at 212 and finding it reacting at 170 could ruin a lab tech's day to be sure. Those are the jobs that sound fun "for the science" lets see what happens when...

"Decomposition" doesn't usually mean 'explodes', either. Curiously, Wikipedia still shows the old definition [1]: > Temozolomide is an imidazotetrazine derivative. It is slightly soluble in water and aqueous acids, and decomposes at 212 °C (414 °F).[15] The [15] citation from Wikipedia is to a 1982 book, untranslated from German. That may be one example of "the literature" that Derek cites. The factoid was added in t…

> I'd wager that the number of people who are English-German bilingual chemists with this book from 1982 on their shelf who edit Wikipedia is exactly one, and further, that he did not experimentally test or have other familiarity with the compound to sanity check the fact.

Well of course he didn't, he'd be violating their "no original research" policy if he did.

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