Normalising huge substrate scopes worsens wellbeing

Woman in lab coat with red umbrella fighting against flurry of papers

Source: © Jonathan McHugh/Ikon Images

And holds up the pace of scientific progress

‘It’s such a waste of time. I’m constantly running reactions to get these last examples to a good yield, and my contract is about to run out.’

That’s what Marc, a postdoc from a well-known catalysis group, told me at a conference while we were discussing the substrate scope in his project