The art of discovery in biophysical organic chemistry

Observations made in the course of experiments on pyridinium salts led to important discoveries in physical organic chemistry. The way in which the discoveries were made is likened to art rather than goal-directed "cold logic". We can describe the art of discovery as an effort enhanced by practice and intuition to recognize novelty in a finding and provide productive insight into its nature. We shall present some examples, and describe what happened after finding an unexpected light absorption band, a surprising solvent effect on spectra, and an unexpectedly stable and beautiful small organic radical.Key words: art of discovery, solvent polarity parameter, charge-transfer complex, stable free radical, solvent effect on spectra.