Simple, cheap and effective drug against cancer discovered

[JaXanim]

Karlos wrote:
Which isomer is it? 1,1 or 1,3?

There's no such thing as 1,3-chloroacetate. The DCA radical contains only two carbon atoms, one of which is in the carbonyl group. In fact there's no possibility of structural isomerism with dichloroacate, both chlorines being attached to the only available carbon atom.
Cheers, JaX

[JaXanim]

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Incidentally, are you sure it's a radical?

I don't mean 'radical' in the sense you understand. The term 'dichloroacetate' is an incomplete description of either a salt (eg. sodium dichloroacetate) or an ester (eg. isopropyl dichloroacetate). The DCA referred to in the article is I believe the sodium or potassium salt. As you correctly state, 'DCA' is actually the anion of dichloroacetic acid. However, when organic chemists discuss bits and pieces of molecules, rather than the entire molecules, they tend to call them 'radicals'.
Cheers, JaX

[JaXanim]

Karlos wrote:
Probably the reason I read it as "dichloroacetone" is simply because when scan reading it I automatically rejected "dichloroacetate" as a discrete chemical compound.

Well I'm glad you're not treating me! :-o
JaX

[JaXanim]

Karlos wrote:
Thinking about it, it's pretty sloppy for a scientific publication to call a specific chemical compound "chloroacetate". What-chloroacetate? There's an infinite number of...

Not really. DCA is a recognised drug used in the treatment of mitochondrial diseases. Anyone who needs to know will already know exactly what they're referring to. It's the sodium salt I believe, but I think almost any water soluble salt would do.
JaX

[JaXanim]

Karlos wrote:
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It's quite ironic when you consider the sheer effort invested in cancer research that answers may lie in some of the simpler substances we've employed for ages for other purposes.

It's all about money. Nobody will make any money if DCA proves to be the silver bullet. I wish these DCA investigators every success, the world deserves something free for a change.
JaX

[JaXanim]

@Karlos
I think our avatars have something going here!
JaX