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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ResearchReimagining synthetic strategy with skeletal editing ticks box on chemists’ wish list
Selective heteroatom alkylation offers route to modify important drug building blocks
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ResearchLight-activated catalyst sorts mirror-image molecules by resetting carbon–halogen bonds
Photocatalytic reaction that inverts chiral centres offers new way to enrich racemic mixtures
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Research‘Bowtie-shaped’ molecule displays spin entanglement
A new solution synthesis strategy could catapult quantum applications
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ResearchSpray-drying investigated as a speedy method for synthesising small organic molecules
Technique applied to Schiff-base condensations, Claisen–Schmidt reactions and amine acylations
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ResearchLong-chain alkanes preserved in Martian mudstone
Molecules could have derived from biological fatty acids, although abiotic origins are also possible
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ResearchSkeletal editing targets double bonds
Two new techniques selectively install nitrogen atoms into complex molecules
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ResearchStudy 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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ResearchUnusual radical reaction powered by strained substrates
Single-electron strain-release produces pharmaceutical building blocks
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ResearchForbidden 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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ResearchTotal 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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FeatureMelanie 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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OpinionFluorine 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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ResearchSimulations 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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OpinionRobots queuing up to fail
Claims of an AI revolution in drug discovery are missing the biggest problem
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OpinionThe right level of trust in the scientific literature
An overreliance on what’s gone before can hinder innovation
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ResearchWireless, light-powered device opens door to high-throughput electrosynthesis
‘Ingenious and creative solution’ to electrochemistry’s ‘horrible wiring problem’
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ResearchShape-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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ResearchTime 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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ResearchAntiaromatic hydrocarbon boasts unusual stability
Pentalene-based system can reversibly switch between aromatic and antiaromatic states without undergoing skeletal or conformational changes