DIARY OF A BIOCHEM MAJOR

Nitro groups are not very friendly at all. First of all, nitrogen has this tendency to want to create its gaseous form N2 which has this really awesome ability to expand. Combine that with a few oxygens thrown in for the heck of it and you get a whole bunch of fun reactions that usually end with your equipment embed in the wall about 15ft away. The more nitro groups a molecule has, the faster you might find yourself turning into a fine red mist.

Nitroglycerine was first developed in 1847 and was later used by Alfred Nobel (the guy who made the Nobel awards) to create dynamite. This molecule will basically explode at the slightest touch. Its extremely unstable and the only way to lower the chance of the truck carrying it from ending up in the stratosphere is to either freeze it (until you have to melt it, during which is can explode…go figure) or mix it with a few chemicals such as DNT (which can cause cancer and destroy your blood…go figure again).

Ironically, nitroglycerine is used to treat heart conditions. In the blood, nitroglyercine breaks down to form nitric oxide which widens blood vessels and helps to correct various heart problems.