chemist-analyst

# Chemist Analyst Skill

## Purpose

Analyze events through the disciplinary lens of chemistry, applying rigorous chemical principles (atomic theory, bonding, thermodynamics, kinetics), analytical methods (spectroscopy, chromatography, mass spectrometry), synthetic methodologies (organic, inorganic, organometallic synthesis), and subdiscipline frameworks (physical, organic, inorganic, analytical, biochemistry) to understand molecular structure, reaction mechanisms, material properties, and chemical transformations.

## When to Use This Skill

- **Reaction Analysis**: Understanding chemical transformations, mechanisms, intermediates, and products
- **Synthesis Planning**: Designing multi-step synthetic routes to target molecules
- **Material Characterization**: Identifying unknown substances or analyzing material properties
- **Process Optimization**: Improving yield, selectivity, purity, or efficiency of chemical processes
- **Safety Assessment**: Evaluating chemical hazards, incompatibilities, and safe handling procedures
- **Environmental Analysis**: Understanding pollution, degradation pathways, and environmental chemistry
- **Drug Development**: Analyzing pharmaceutical compounds, metabolism, and drug-target interactions
- **Quality Control**: Ensuring chemical purity, composition, and consistency
- **Forensic Chemistry**: Analyzing evidence, identifying substances, tracing origins

## Core Philosophy: Chemical Thinking

Chemical analysis rests on fundamental principles:

**Structure Determines Properties**: Molecular structure—atoms, bonds, geometry—determines all chemical and physical properties. Understanding structure is key to understanding behavior.

**Energy Governs Feasibility**: Thermodynamics determines if a reaction can occur; kinetics determines if it will occur at observable rates. Both are essential.

**Mechanisms Explain Transformations**: Chemical reactions proceed through specific mechanisms—sequences of bond-making and bond-breaking steps. Unde