Arsole

Yes, believe it or not, there is actually a molecule called Arsole, and it's a ring! It is the arsenic equivalent of pyrrole, and although it is rarely found in its pure form, it is occasionally seen as a sidegroup in the form of organic arsolyls.

Bastardane

This is actually a close relative of adamantane, and its proper name is ethano-bridged noradamantane.
it came to be known as bastardane - the "unwanted child". In fact the original paper had the title "Nonacyclo-docosane, a Bastard Tetramantane".it came to be known as bastardane - the "unwanted child". In fact the original paper had the title "Nonacyclo-docosane, a Bastard Tetramantane".

Megaphone

Despite having a ridiculous name, the molecule is quite ordinary. It gets its name from being both a constituent of Aniba Megaphylla roots and a ketone.

Munchnones

No, these aren't the favourite compound of the Munchkins from The Wizard of Oz, but are in fact a type of mesoionic compound. These are ring structures in which the positive and negative charge are delocalised, and which cannot be represented satisfactorily by any one polar structure. They got their name when Huisgen called them after the city Munich (München), after similar compounds were called sydnones after Sydney

Unununium

I know this is technically an element, not a molecule, but it had such a ridiculous name I thought I'd include it. This is actually element number 111, and was called by the IUPAC temporary systematic name of unununium before it was recently renamed roentgenium. This is a pity, because if it formed ring or cage structures, previously we might have ended up with unununium onions,

Cummingtonite

This mineral must have the silliest name of them all! Its official name is magnesium iron silicate hydroxide, and it has the formula (Mg,Fe)7Si8O22(OH)2. It got its name from the locality where it was first found, Cummington, Massachusetts, USA.

Putrescine, Cadaverine, Spermine and Spermidine

Putrescine originates in putrefying and rotting flesh, and is quite literally, the smell of death. It is one of the breakdown products of some of the amino-acids found in animals, including humans. Although the molecule is a poisonous solid, as flesh decays the vapour pressure of the putrescine it contains becomes sufficiently large to allow its disgusting odour to be detected. It is usually accompanied by cadaverine (named after the cadavers that give rise to it), a poisonous syrupy liquid with an equally disgusting smell. Putrescine and cadaverine also contribute towards the smells of some living processes. Since they are both poisonous, the body normally excretes them in whatever way is quickest and most convenient. For example, the odour of bad breath and urine are 'enriched' by the presence of these molecules, as is the 'fishy' smell of the discharge from the female medical condition bacterial vaginosis. Putrescine and cadaverine also contribute to the distinctive smell of semen, which also contains the related molecules spermine and spermidine.

Dickite

Dickite, Al2Si2O5(OH)4, is a (kaolin) clay-like mineral which exhibits mica-like layers with silicate sheets of 6-membered rings bonded to aluminium oxide/hydroxide layers. Dickite is used in ceramics, as paint filler, rubber, plastics and glossy paper. It got its name from the geologist that discovered it around the 1890s, Dr. W. Thomas Dick, of Lanarkshire, Scotland.

Moronic Acid

This is a triterpenoid organic acid that is found in Pistacia resin, and is therefore of interest to people studying archaeological relics, shipwrecks and the contents of ancient Egyptian jars. Its name comes from its corresponding hydroxy acid, which was originally named morolic acid since it was isolated from the heartwood of the mora tree, mora excelsa. The keto acid then became moronic acid. Derivatives of this are called moronates, as in 'which slowpoke-ate the contents of this jar?'

Fukalite

This wonderfully named mineral gets its name from the Fuka mine in the Fuka region of southern Japan. It is very rare, and is a form of calcium silico-carbonate, with formula Ca4Si2O6(CO3)(OH,F)2.

Traumatic Acid

This is a plant hormone which causes injured cells to divide and help repair the trauma - hence its name, and its synonym 'wound hormone'.

Fucitol

Although this sounds like what an undergraduate chemist might exclaim when their synthesis goes wrong, it's actually an alcohol, whose other names are L-fuc-ol or 1-deoxy-D-galactitol. It gets its wonderful trivial name from the fact that it is derived from the sugar fucose, which comes from a seaweed found in the North Atlantic called Bladderwrack whose latin name is Fucus vesiculosis. Interestingly, there are a few articles in the Journal of Biochemistry throughout 1997 concerning a kinase enzyme which acts on fucose. The creators of these articles were Japanese, and seemed to have missed the fact that fucose kinase should not be abbreviated as 'fuc-K'. Similarly, the E. coli K-12 Gene has other proteins that have been named Fuc-U and Fuc-R. Recently, the abbreviation for fucose-kinase enzyme has been cleaned up to 'FUK'. However, there are now clones of this where the cloning position in the DNA sequence is labelled by its Open Reading Frame (ORF) number. And of course, these clones are called FUK ORF!

Erotic Acid

No, this isn't the world's best aphrodisiac. Its correct name is orotic acid, but it has been misspelt so often in the chemical literature that it is also known as erotic acid! Another name for it is vitamin B13. Apparently, if you add another carbon to it, it becomes homo-erotic acid,

Gossypol

This ridiculously named molecule is found in cotton seeds. It was used as a male contraceptive in China, but was never used in the West (and may have since been banned in China as well), since its effects were permanent in about 20% of patients! Its name originated from being present in the flowers of the Indian cotton plant Gossypium herbaceum L. Apart from its contraceptive effects, gossypol has properties that might make it useful in treating a number of ailments, including cancer, HIV, malaria and some bacterial/viral illnessness. Related to this molecule are the equally strangely named gossypetin and gossypin. I always thought 'gossypin' was frowned upon in polite labs,

Lucifer yellow

I think Lucifer Yellow is a food colouring used especially in hot sauces, like salsa pickle. It is also used in plant microscopy anatomy studies, because it fluoresces under ultraviolet light and stains certain regions between plant cells.

Periodic Acid

Ok, I know it should really be per-iodic acid, but without the hyphen it sounds like it only works some of the time, It has also been described as that acid extracted by boiling of old periodic tables found in chemistry lecture halls and laboratories.

Nonose

I say, I say, I say, my dog's got nonose. How does it smell? Sweet - because every chemist knows (nose?) that nonose is a sugar containing 9 carbon atoms. (Actually, it probably doesn't smell of anything because most sugars are odourless).

Clitoriacetal

This gets its name from the root of the Clitoria macrophylla plant, and is a constituent of the Thai drug "Non-tai-yak" which is used to treat respiratory disorders, including pulmonary tuberculosis and bronchitis, and also works as an insecticide.

Vaginatin

I know you can get most things nowadays in a tin, but this is getting silly, Actually it gets its name from the plant Selinum Vaginatum. The related molecule is Vaginol, which also goes by the name Archangelicin.

Carnallite

Carnallite is KMgCl3·6H2O, an evaporite mineral. Surprisingly for a mineral called carnallite, it doesn't exhibit any cleavage, It's used as an ore for potassium fertilizers, and is named after Rudolf von Carnall, a Prussian mining engineer, whose (Carnall?) knowledge of the subject was famous,

Draculin

Draculin is the anticoagulant factor in vampire bat saliva. It is a large glycoprotein made from a sequence of 411 amino acids.

Lol @ erotic acid. Word filters really working overtime, Dr. W. Thomas ''Manliness''! Lol. . . .

Funny, silly yet intelligent!

^^ I agree

Totally!

lol @ moronic acid

Vaginatin

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