Natural products – Page 3
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PodcastHydroquinone
Georgia Mills on a compound that explodes from a beetle’s bum, and has a controversial role in skin depigmentation
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Research‘Inside-out’ chirality discovered by chance could have been missed in many molecules
A structure assignment odyssey finds a natural product with a type of isomerism never before seen in small molecules
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PodcastVitamin B12 or Cobalamin
If you’re trying out a vegan diet, you’re likely to be told to make sure you get enough vitamin B12. But what is B12, where do we get it from, and how can we be sure we’re getting enough?
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ResearchProgram finds 5 million synthetic routes to complex chemicals
Only around five hundred ‘tactical combinations’ for advanced organic synthesis existed – until Chematica was let loose on the problem
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PodcastIminosugars
After some promising results treating ill pets, some researchers think iminosugars could become treatments for infection and even cancer. Mike Freemantle explores the buzz around iminohoney
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NewsOpen access Atlas maps out microbial natural products
Project aims to accelerate research on microbial metabolites
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FeatureSeparating turmeric fact from fiction
Thousands of papers have been published on curcumin’s healing potential, but its usefulness is not yet proven, finds Andy Extance
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PodcastBeta-damascenone
Louise Crane explains how a series of happy accidents led to the discovery of this rose-scented compound, found in rose oil, beer, apple pie and Kentucky bourbon.
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Opinion(±)-Rhabdastrellic acid A
A triterpene that looks innocuous until it reveals the highly strained conformation of its rings
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PodcastCiguatoxin
The toxin found in reef fish that leads to food poisoning so bad it can cause life-long symptoms
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ResearchFirst synthesis of unusual natural product could revive forgotten eco-friendly insecticide class
16-step synthesis of rare diterpene could reveal new ways to control insecticide-resistant pests
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Opinion(+)-Microladallene B
A weird structure is enough to spark chemists’ interest, even without any obvious use
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ResearchFlexible catalyst systems open up nitrile chemistry
One new strategy enantioselectively produces amines from nitriles, and another generates valuable alkenyl nitriles
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PodcastVinblastine and vincristine: Vinca alkaloids
Kat Arney unearths a story of an overlooked female researcher in the search for the origins of cancer drugs found in plants
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OpinionWe’re going to need a bigger flask
Scaling up reactions is easy to get wrong in a variety of ways
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PodcastNitrogenase
The mysterious enzyme that can beat the world’s biggest chemical process when it comes to breaking the dinitrogen triple bond
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ResearchFlexible route to enantiomerically enriched cyclobutanes
System for modifying square starting molecule could be gateway to numerous bioactive molecules