Courses

In this intimate class, Dr. Paul Daley, latter-day colleague and sidekick of the legendary psychedelic chemist, Sasha Shulgin, will guide us through the groundbreaking work Shulgin did in the realm of novel tryptamine chemistry, sharing insights into how his discoveries have shaped the field and where they might take us in the future. If anyone has had the pleasure of a whiteboard chemistry lesson from Paul, tucked by the fireplace in Sasha's old lab, you know how special it feels to be an audience to his curiosity and wonder. This is a rare opportunity to learn from someone who learned from Sasha himself.

Many interesting and useful compounds are found in plants. In this session, we will address basic chemistry relevant to isolating these materials through plant extraction, cleanup of crude preparations, compound separation, and analytical detection.

Important concepts to consider will be the nature of partitioning between phases (immiscible liquid pairs, stationary and moving liquid phases, and liquid and moving vapor phases), used routinely in cleanup and chromatography.

We will keep it to a minimum, but be prepared to hear some technical jargon! A chemistry background is welcome but not necessary for this class.