moleculefinder

What's inside your world?

Explore selected molecules in familiar things: what each one is, and how it works.

Molecule of the week

A new molecule every Monday.

This week9 to 15 November

Aspirin

C9H8O4180.16 g/molCalculated

Aspirin went on sale in 1899, but the idea is ancient: willow bark carries salicin, which the body turns into salicylic acid, the compound aspirin is made from.

Aspirin's full pageEvery week so far
Sources and notes
  • Molecular weightcomputedPubChem
  • This week's linefrom sourceMoleculeFinder curated
  • 2D drawingcomputedPubChem structure, drawn by RDKit
  • 3D modelfrom sourcePubChem 3D conformerLoaded after the page has painted; the 2D drawing shows until it arrives.

Open something familiar

Six everyday things, each a short chain of molecules.

Roasted coffee beans in a cup

Coffee

Follow caffeine from your cup to the sleepiness signal it blocks, then on to chocolate.

Explore coffee
White tablets spilling from the mouth of a purple bottle lying on its side

The medicine cabinet

Tylenol, Advil, NyQuil and Vicks, starting with acetaminophen, the pain reliever Tylenol and NyQuil share.

Explore the medicine cabinet
Slices of a brown loaf on a wooden board

Bread

Starch from the flour, gluten that traps the gas, and ethanol the yeast makes as the dough rises.

Explore bread
A small heap of sugar and two measuring spoons on a dark table

Sugar and sweeteners

Table sugar, the yardstick, and the sweeteners that match it with a trace.

Explore sweeteners
A blue spray bottle spraying a fine mist, on black

Household cleaners

Ammonia, bleach and hydrogen peroxide: what each one cleans.

Explore cleaners
Slices of orange and lemon

Citrus

Vitamin C, citric acid, which is not a vitamin at all, and limonene, the scent in the peel.

Explore citrus
In the news this week8 to 14 NovemberFentanylEthanolSemaglutideAmmoniaUraniumPFASTirzepatideOzone

More ways in

Sources and notes
  • The coffee listfrom sourceMoleculeFinder curated food list
  • The two drawingscomputedPubChem structures, drawn by RDKit
  • The shared orientation and the amber markcomputedMoleculeFinder rule (RDKit common core)Theobromine is drawn on the core it shares with caffeine; the amber marks the atoms outside it.
  • Closest in shape to caffeinecomputedMoleculeFinder fingerprint similarityMorgan fingerprints, radius 2, compared by Tanimoto score.