Organic chemistry
The latest chemistry news and research on organic chemistry, including synthesis, natural products and total synthesis, reaction mechanisms and supramolecular chemistry, from the Royal Society of Chemistry's magazine, Chemistry World
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Research
Skeletal editing targets double bonds
Two new techniques selectively install nitrogen atoms into complex molecules
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Research
Study challenges notion that solution-phase organic reactions are unfeasible at high temperatures
Capillary synthesis at 500°C converts N-substituted pyrazoles into their isomers within five minutes
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Research
Unusual radical reaction powered by strained substrates
Single-electron strain-release produces pharmaceutical building blocks
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Research
Forbidden electrocyclic reactions can be more allowed than previously thought
Study suggests such reactions should instead be described as either ‘Woodward–Hoffmann favoured’ or ‘Woodward–Hoffmann disfavoured’
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Research
Total synthesis of anti-addictive alkaloid in just seven steps
A streamlined synthesis of the psychoactive compound ibogaine could open up new opportunities in the treatment of drug addiction and depression
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Feature
Melanie Sanford’s route from college gymnast to groundbreaking researcher
One-time gymnast Melanie Sanford has made a name for herself in catalysis and organometallic chemistry. Rebecca Trager charts her path to success, from her mentors to her mentoring
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Opinion
Fluorine makes you an offer you can’t refuse
What might we do if we had a new, electron-donating equivalent element?
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Opinion
(–)-Scabrolide B (again!)
Proverbially, comparison may not bring joy – but it can be educational
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Research
Simulations suggest why highly unsaturated molecules are so abundant in the interstellar medium
Shocks, cosmic rays and x-rays seem to ionise and fragment saturated molecules via mechanisms that result in structures with the highest possible number of π bonds
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Opinion
Robots queuing up to fail
Claims of an AI revolution in drug discovery are missing the biggest problem
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Opinion
The right level of trust in the scientific literature
An overreliance on what’s gone before can hinder innovation
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Research
Wireless, light-powered device opens door to high-throughput electrosynthesis
‘Ingenious and creative solution’ to electrochemistry’s ‘horrible wiring problem’
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Research
Shape-shifting carbon ring helps researchers test alternative weed management tactic
Pausing plant growth, rather than completely inhibiting it, might make weeds less inclined to develop resistance
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Research
Time to stop mentioning alkyl group inductive effects
New computational evidence reiterates that alkyl groups are inductively electron-withdrawing and that hyperconjugation dominates
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Research
Antiaromatic hydrocarbon boasts unusual stability
Pentalene-based system can reversibly switch between aromatic and antiaromatic states without undergoing skeletal or conformational changes
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Research
Programmable nanostructures created with DNA origami
DNA ‘voxels’ form up a range of shapes on command
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Research
Light-driven method simplifies synthesis of complex heterocycles
Photochemical method provides controlled access to thiazole and isothiazole derivatives
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Research
Air-stable rhenium complex catalyses alkyne metathesis
Study presents first non-d0 alkylidyne complex capable of effecting alkyne metathesis at room temperature
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Research
New Wittig reaction pathway proves old dog can learn new tricks
Breakthrough offers simple way to synthesise diverse triazabutadienes with a range of applications