Lecture

The Chemistry of Cats: Allergies and Catnip

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In course

CH-110: Advanced general chemistry I

Le cours comporte deux parties. Les bases de la thermodynamique des équilibres et de la cinétique des réactions sont introduites dans l'une d'elles. Les premières notions de chimie quantique sur les électrons et les liaisons chimiques, exemplifiées en chim ...

Description

This lecture explores the chemistry behind cat allergies and catnip. It delves into the compounds in cat urine responsible for its smell and the allergens triggering reactions in humans. Additionally, it discusses the effects of catnip on felines and the composition of cat litter. The instructor also covers the concepts of acid-base reactions, electrophiles, and nucleophiles, emphasizing the relationship between electronegativity and acidity. The lecture concludes by highlighting the importance of acids and bases in organic chemistry.

Instructors (7)

Beat Fierz

Teaching & PhD PhD Students Paria Khalafi, Wei Cai, Pierre Alexander Miranda Herrera, Andrei Zhauniarovich, Matteo Nicolas Doudin, Zongqing Li, Enguerran Majerus, Po-Han Chang, Iana Berlina, Yuji Kamei Past EPFL PhD Students Aurore Marie-France Delachat, Sinan Kilic, Louise Catherine Bryan, Andreas Linus Bachmann, Ninad Dilip Agashe, Nora Guidotti, Maxime Nicolas Mivelaz, Kristina Makasheva, Alexandra Teslenko, Pauline Franz, Salome Riccarda Püntener, Ly Phillippe Past EPFL PhD Students as codirector Dani

Angela Steinauer

Since 2022: Head of the Laboratory of Biomolecular Engineering and Nanomedicine (LIBN), EPFL (Switzerland)2019-2021: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellow at ETHZ (Switzerland)2018: Ph.D. in Chemical Biology from Yale University (USA)2007-2012: B.Sc. & M.Sc. in Chemistry from University of Zurich (Switzerland) Teaching & PhD PhD Students Diogo Miguel De Abreu Viegas, Georges Barnikol, Oliver Dennis, Andrea Elizabeth Melgar Aguilar, Paula Oeser, Manutsawee Thanaburakorn Courses Advanced general chemistry I CH

Jacques-Edouard Moser

Jacques-Edouard Moser is titular professor in physical chemistry and is currently directing the Group for Photochemical Dynamics (Moser Group) of EPFL. He is a graduate of the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, where he received a diploma degree (MSc) in chemical engineering in 1982. After two stays in 1984 and 1985 at Concordia University in Montréal (Canada), he earned in 1986 his Ph.D. in physical chemistry at EPFL (Michael Grätzel, thesis advisor). In 1986, he joined the Eastman Kodak Corporate Research Laboratories at Rochester (NY, USA) as a postdoctoral fellow and was later associated with the NSF Center for Photoinduced Electron Transfer at the University of Rochester. Returning to Switzerland, he was appointed as a lecturer of physical chemistry at EPFL in 1992 and was awarded the habilitation and the venia legendi in 1998. He is titular professor since 2005.His research activity focuses on the study of the dynamics of photoinduced electron transfer and charge carrier separation at donor-acceptor heterojunctions and in nanostructured semiconductors. He is the author and co-author of ca 200 scientific papers (H-index 75). He currently teaches general physical chemistry to freshmen students in chemistry. He gives two classes on general- and redox photochemistry in the MSc program in chemistry and chemical engineering and the doctoral programs in energy and photonics. Jacques-E. Moser presided the Swiss Society of Photochemistry and Photophysics (1995-1998) and chaired the jury of the Grammaticakis-Neumann international prize in photochemistry (1999-2001). He was a member of the board of the Swiss Chemical Society (2007-2012). He served as a member of the standing committee of the European Photochemistry Association (1992-2000) and of the executive committee of the division for fundamental research of the Swiss Chemical Society (1999-2014). He was the director of the Section of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of EPFL and a member of the direction of the School of Basic Sciences from 2007 to 2015.

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Chemistry

Inorganic chemistry: Topics in inorganic chemistry

Related concepts (31)

Acid dissociation constant

In chemistry, an acid dissociation constant (also known as acidity constant, or acid-ionization constant; denoted K_a) is a quantitative measure of the strength of an acid in solution. It is the equilibrium constant for a chemical reaction HA A^- + H^+ known as dissociation in the context of acid–base reactions. The chemical species HA is an acid that dissociates into , the conjugate base of the acid and a hydrogen ion, .

Allergen

An allergen is a type of antigen that produces an abnormally vigorous immune response in which the immune system fights off a perceived threat that would otherwise be harmless to the body. Such reactions are called allergies. In technical terms, an allergen is an antigen that is capable of stimulating a type-I hypersensitivity reaction in atopic individuals through immunoglobulin E (IgE) responses. Most humans mount significant Immunoglobulin E responses only as a defense against parasitic infections.

Acids in wine

The acids in wine are an important component in both winemaking and the finished product of wine. They are present in both grapes and wine, having direct influences on the color, balance and taste of the wine as well as the growth and vitality of yeast during fermentation and protecting the wine from bacteria. The measure of the amount of acidity in wine is known as the “titratable acidity” or “total acidity”, which refers to the test that yields the total of all acids present, while strength of acidity is measured according to pH, with most wines having a pH between 2.

Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory

The Brønsted–Lowry theory (also called proton theory of acids and bases) is an acid–base reaction theory which was first developed by Johannes Nicolaus Brønsted and Thomas Martin Lowry independently in 1923. The basic concept of this theory is that when an acid and a base react with each other, the acid forms its conjugate base, and the base forms its conjugate acid by exchange of a proton (the hydrogen cation, or H+). This theory generalises the Arrhenius theory.

Cat

The cat (Felis catus) is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of the family. Cats are commonly kept as house pets but can also be farm cats or feral cats; the feral cat ranges freely and avoids human contact. Domestic cats are valued by humans for companionship and their ability to kill vermin. About 60 cat breeds are recognized by various cat registries.

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Introduction to Environmental Chemistry

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Related concepts (31)

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Allergen

Acids in wine

Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory

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