About My Final Project: About Phase Transfer Catalysis Reaction

All boundaries is difficult to cross: political, legal, geographic boundaries, and also phase boundaries in chemical systems. Many desirable reactions cannot be brought about because the reactants are inaccessible to each other. One typical system is a system consists of water soluble nucleophilic reagent and an organic water insoluble electrophilic reagent. To solve the problem of this system, traditionally both reagents are solved in water-like and organic-like solvent, such as ethanol which has both hydrophilic nature from its hydroxyl group and lipophilic nature from its ethyl group. But this method has a limitation that the reaction rate decreased due to the solvation of the nucleophile. The other method, such as using of expensive dipolar aprotic solvents like DMSO has been applied but proven to have disadvantages such as difficulty of the separation during post reaction recovery.

A feasible and industrially successful method to solve such system is the use of phase transfer agents, which

Advertisement

Light Note About Research and Industry in Japan

Japan Research Actual Condition

Lately, after I finished my internship period in Chiyoda, somehow, it changed my frame of mind. Before I join that internship program, in somewhere in my head, I wanted to be a researcher, work in a remote research center (but still in Japan). But during the internship, I know from seniors working at Chiyoda about  fact that many of research done by professors in universities, even in Japan, end up as archived research documents, without any follow up. I mean, there are only a few research topics would be applied in industry. If it’s about Indonesia, then I won’t deny for that. But We are talking about Japan, man!!!Furthermore,

7-eleven Seven Interesting Commercials

More than 40,000 convenience stores, known as konbini, can be found across Japan. Most of them are open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.Strong competition between the major operators, such as Seven Eleven, Lawson and Family Mart, constantly produces new innovative products and services and makes Japanese convenience stores truly convenient.

To me, seven eleven is the most accessible convenient store, because there is one shop on the ground floor of the building my classes always take place. Lately I found a channel which contains some old but interesting TV commercials of 7-eleven,

Internship@Chiyoda Corp, Yokohama

Chiyoda

In the middle of Ramadhan (and also middle of summer) this year, to earn one credit in my university department, for 10 days, I have joined an internship program held by one of Japanese engineering giants CHIYODA CORPORATION, Japan. It’s an engineering consultancy which offers the complete range of process plant engineering and design solutions to both domestic & international clients in sectors critical to economic growth – Petroleum refining, Petrochemicals, Chemicals, Fertilizers, Oil & Gas and LNG & LPG. Actually many of Indonesian LNG and Petroleum Plants, was built by Chiyoda.

“Dual Nature” dari Manusia

Dear pembaca, tahukah anda bahwa sisi bulan yang menghadap bumi selalu sama? Dengan kata lain, kita tidak pernah melihat sisi belakang bulan. Alasannya sih simpel. Periode revolusi (perputaran bulan mengelilingi bumi), lamanya sama persis dengan periode rotasi (perputaran sumbu bulan).

Figure 1 Coba anda ingat-ingat, kapan bulan terlihat berbeda dari ini?

Tapi kali ini bukan itu yang akan saya ceritakan. Saya hanya ingin kita sama-sama mengingat bahwa manusia pun tidak jauh berbeda dari bulan. Kita memiliki dua wajah. Wajah yang di depan yang selalu kita perlihatkan, dan satu lagi wajah yang selalu kita tutup rapat-rapat.

Bertukar Pasangan? Sah-Sah Aja Kaleee )*

Mungkin di dunia nyata, bertukar pasangan adalah satu hal yang tabu, haram atau asusila. Tapi di dunia molekul? Apa salahnya? Di sini kita akan coba bahas bahwa tak hanya manusia yang bisa berdansa berpasang-pasangan. Molekul, pun bisa. Tak hanya itu, mereka bisa saling bertukar pasangan layaknya Ariel dan Luna (ups!).

Prinsip dansa itulah yang membuat Yves Chauvin (Prancis), Robert H. Grubbs, dan Richard Schrock (keduanya dari AS) mendapatkan hadiah Nobel tahun 2005. Reaksi metatesis, yang sebenarnya sudah ditemukan sejak tahun 1950 namun mekanismenya masih tidak diketahui itu, dengan kegigihan 3 orang kimiawan tadi akhirnya terungkap jelas.

Reaksi metatesis yang terjadi pada ikatan ganda karbon (olefin) sendiri sebenarnya sederhana (Gb. 1)

Gb. 1 Reaksi Metathesis

Algae for Biofuels?

One of my favorite noodle menus in my campus cafeteria is what is called kishimen, a flat and wide noodle thicker than udon, served with some katsuo bushi (dried, fermented, and smoked skipjack tuna), some agetoufu and seaweed. Among those ingredients I don’t really like the seaweed thing, even though it’s said that seaweed is the secret why Japanese people don’t get fat 🙂 Anyway, eating what I don’t want to eat somehow make me think, how we can use this seaweed not for eating.

Solving Ordinal Differential Equation Using Ms. Excel

It’s been a while. I’m sorry for the absence. Actually I’m not so busy, just there came exam period which made my blogging mood decreased. Now I want to begin with what I had played recently: a game called Ms. Excel 🙂

—General form of ODE—

Initial value ordinary differential equations (ODEs) are among the most widely used forms of mathematics in science and engineering. However, most ODE models are complicated enough (e.g., sets of simultaneous nonlinear equations) to preclude analytical methods of solution; instead, numerical methods must be used, which I want to talk through this post.

Prinsip 5S dalam Servis di Jepang dan Pengertian Servis Itu Sendiri

Bagi teman-teman yang sedang bekerja di Jepang, atau sedang belajar di Jepang, ataupun teman-teman di Indonesia yang akrab dengan motor terutama motor Suzuki, kemungkinan besar sudah tidak asing dengan 5 S, yaitu:

1. 整理(Seiri: Bisa membedakan mana yang masih dibutuhkan/tidak dibutuhkan)
2. 整頓(Seiton: Letakkan barang di tempat yang aman namun mudah dipahami orang lain)
3. 清掃(Seijo: Peliharalah barang agar tetap seperti barang baru)
4. 清潔(Seiketsu: Jagalah kebersihan agar siapapun yang melihat merasa nyaman)
5. 躾(Shitsuke: Jagalah apa yang disepakati bersama)

Jepang, melalui industri manufakturnya telah sukses menyebarkan prinsip ini ke seluruh dunia. Di pabrik-pabrik milik jepang maupun di bengkel-bengkel, prinsip ini selalu diajarkan ke setiap karyawan yang sedang dalam masa training (研修).

Tapi beberapa waktu lalu saya menemukan 5S yang lain. Di sudut kantin 2 kampus Oookayama Tokyo Institute of Technology, saya melihat ada sebuah papan bertuliskan サービスの5S (5S dalam servis), dan pengertian servis itu sendiri dalam bahasa (jepang) yang menarik. Walau agak kurang begitu jelas, saya berhasil menjepret papan itu dari luar jendela 🙂

1. Pengertian Servis di Jepang

Interesting Japanese Watch Commercials

To all of my wonderful visitors, I wish you a very Happy New Year 2010. May the new decade bring you health and all that you wish for!

By the way, Recently, when I was wasting my time looking for inspiration for my assignment with youtube, my eyes were caught by some commercials. The company’s name was Jewelry and Watch Nagano (宝石時計長野). There are 4 series with different messages and different backgrounds depending on which season they are broadcasted. Perhaps it’s much better to give you their translations only rather than to interpret and to explain their meaning with my boring reasoning  🙂

1. 時間の関係 (Time Relation) : Spring (March~June)

人生で一時間だけ関係した人。	In your entire lifetime, people who relate with you in only 1 hour:
タクシードライバー、講演会の講師。	Taxi Drivers, Guest Speakers in Open Lectures
1年間だけ関係した人。	People who relate only in one year:
インストラクター、病院の先生。	Instructors, Doctors in Hospitals
5年間だけ関係した人。	People who relate only in five years:
別れてしまった恋人、前の会社の同僚。	Broke up dearest love, colleagues in previous company
10年以上、関係する人は、	People who relate more than 10 years:,
あなたにとって、とても大切な人。	for you, they are very important people
時に、ココロを。	For time, give your heart:
宝石 時計 長野	Nagano Watch and Jewelry