BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / Glycerol Molecule

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** April 6, 2012 12:47 am

Has anyone else spotted that the glycerol molecule he analyses is actually wrong? It should have 8 Hydrogens, 3 Oxygens and 3 Carbons, but the chemical structure we see on the screen has 7 Hydrogens, 3 Oxygens, 3 Carbons and a random 'E' (the one on the bottom middle that says OE). Can't work out what the E part is supposed to be seeing as there's no element that's just 'E'.

I can't believe that Moftiss & Co would not research this properly seeing as chemistry is such an important part of the Sherlock world...I also can't believe that Sherlock himself would get something like that wrong...so why?

The only thing I can think of is that it's actually a clue! Not sure how exactly but...could that be the thing that Sherlock did that was out of character? Getting his chemistry wrong? And if so, what does it actually mean in the wider context of "the fall"? Anyone care to elaborate...or have I just had too much C8H10N4O2? (caffeine, )

**Posted by Wholocked** April 6, 2012 6:52 am

Interesting. Could just be an error in post (remember that the supers on screen and images of things that weren't actually filmed are put in by the editors; it's possible the writers and so on didn't even really look at them). If it is a different chemical that could be very interesting though.

Also, try not to get carried away by the "thing Sherlock did that was out of character". That's something that Moftiss said about 2 days after the airing of the episode and I'm pretty sure that people have now clued into it. I'm pretty much sold that the thing he did that was out of character was to allow himself to become a 'hero' in the press. I believe the theory that says he did that to lure Moriarty out and force him to start the game Sherlock's way.

**Posted by kazza474** April 6, 2012 1:17 pm

OE isn't an error.

Now it has been years since I did Chemistry at Uni so forgive me that I cannot answer much more than to say it's to do with esters etc. I have tried to research for you but all I find are texts talking about the OE molecule and my memory can't be budged out of the obscure little rut it is in. It'll hit me tonight in bed for sure, lol.
An ester structure can be long & complicated & far too big to go on screen & make sense.
I'm pretty sure it's like a shorthand form.
I'm a little 'researched out' over some parts of the show.

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** April 6, 2012 8:29 pm

Thanks - let me know if you can find out what it is...I don't know much about Chemistry but I'm finding it really interesting expanding my knowledge thanks to Sherlock!

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** April 8, 2012 11:01 pm

I did a bit more research on it, and the E part is an ether...but I think the chemical structure shown on the screen doesn't match the description shown by the on screen text - The molecule shown is depicted as glycerol. Glycerol has 3 carbons and 3 hydroxyl functional groups (as shown on the on screen text). One of the hydrogens has been removed and replaced by an ether (E), therefore it is a glycerol ether, rather than glycerol itself. Does that kind of make sense?

Like you said, it could be just that describing it accurately would have been too long winded and complicated, particularly for viewers who aren't really interested in the science aspect.

Last edited by Sherlock Holmes (April 8, 2012 11:02 pm)

**Posted by m0r1arty** April 9, 2012 12:02 am

He does state that it's a 'glycerol molecule'. Glycerol is easy to detect in a decent lab due to its reactivity with various things.

Ethers are great for flavouring cheap food (And cheap booze) and are generally too complex to dissect under a microscope. Some stoichiometry after using a mass spectrometer would be in order to catalogue it and that would take time Sherlock doesn't have.

His terminology was sound, if just a quick rush to get to the next development of the story, and I'm glad you worked on proving that SH.

-m0r

**Posted by Davina** April 9, 2012 5:09 am

Good work guys!

**Posted by sherlocked** April 9, 2012 9:04 am

So you guys found out, that Moriarty gave the kids low grade chocolate. He's a nickel pincher! The witch in Grimm's fairy tales at least provided top notch quality, lol!

Last edited by sherlocked (April 9, 2012 11:22 am)

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** April 9, 2012 10:38 am

Lol, just a bit of a geek with too much time on my hands.

**Posted by sherlocked** April 9, 2012 11:24 am

Lol, Sherlock, every stone needs to be turned, otherwise we won't find anything.

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** April 14, 2012 11:13 am

Here's one I made on my molecule set:

**Posted by kazza474** April 14, 2012 2:53 pm

Sherlock Holmes wrote:
Lol, just a bit of a geek with too much time on my hands.

And now we se the proof of that above.

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** April 14, 2012 6:33 pm

kazza474 wrote:
Sherlock Holmes wrote:
Lol, just a bit of a geek with too much time on my hands.
And now we se the proof of that above.

**Posted by Britigander** May 24, 2012 11:33 pm

Oh! Even a molecular model? =) =) That's so cool.
*well impressed*

Thanks to the more recent
http://finalproblem.tumblr.com/post/21761711759/yes-yes-this-really-is-the-third-glycerol-post-in-a
I found
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyglycerol_polyricinoleate
which I think would be consistent with the 'E' for Ester theory.

Still not sure just how careful the writers are about these details, I'd love to think they'd take more care on this show because of the viewer profile but I've learnt not to expect too much in general. Has there ever been mention of a scientific advisor for these aspects of 'Sherlock'? I've not paid enough attention to the credits?

**Posted by Smoggy_London_Air** August 15, 2012 1:48 am

I was looking around online to see what was going on with that Glycerol molecule, and stumbled across a blog post linking back to a "fan discussion" and the author talked about how the organic chemistry stuff was "way over my head."

So I clicked the link. Can't say I'm surprised you guys were on the other end of this.

As far as the glycerol molecule goes, I was rooting through the organic chemistry chapter of my AP Chemistry textbook and saw the glycerol, which, naturally, made me think of The Reichenbach Fall. The next day I watched TRF, and paused it at the glycerol molecule. I sat there rooting through the textbook for at least five minutes trying to puzzle it out.