In a class of their own
ChemSci Pick of the Week
A team of scientists in France and Croatia have developed an organic catalyst that enables the synthesis of a new class of molecules.
Organocatalysts – that is, catalysts that do not contain metals – are a greener alternative to traditional, metal-based catalysts.
Dr Geraldine Masson and her team at Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles in Paris have developed an organocatalyst that enables the production of a new class of molecules – benzothiazolopyrimidines with three contiguous stereogenic centres.
A stereogenic centre is any point in a molecule where changing the arrangement of groups around the centre would lead to a different molecule – usually a mirror image, and referred to as a stereoisomer. Different stereoisomers – while very closely related chemically – can have vastly different properties. For example one could be a medically-useful drug, whilst the other could cause harm in the human body. It’s therefore important to be able to synthesise a single stereoisomer, avoiding any other possible stereoisomers.
Dr Masson explains how organocatalysts – such as the one developed by her group – provide an efficient and environmentally-friendly way to synthesise a range of organic molecules with high stereoselectivity:
"Most life forms are actually made of a multitude of various natural organic molecules interacting together. For decades, synthetic organic chemistry has been the preferred way to produce and invent new drugs to cure diseases, since there is an almost infinite number of ways to attach carbon atoms together and decorate the resulting skeleton.
"The emergence of organocatalysis recognises the fact that beyond those functions, organic molecules can also serve as small machines (called catalysts) to construct other elaborate organic molecules (such as drugs) by assembling smaller ones in a controlled fashion.
"This technique can for example avoid waste and improve yields by forcing fragments to attach correctly to each other to form the right molecule, or replace other catalytic substances exhibiting toxicity such as heavy metals derivatives. Moreover, the many ways in which one can tweak an organocatalyst's structure make it usable to synthesise a wide range of different molecules with different uses."
This article is free to read in our open access, flagship journal Chemical Science: Geraldine Masson et al., Chem. Sci., 2019, Advance Article. DOI: 10.1039/C8SC05581E. You can access our 2019 ChemSci Picks in this article collection.
Read more like thisChemSci Pick of the Week
Chemical Science is the flagship journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry and publishes findings of exceptional significance from across the chemical sciences. It is a global journal for the discovery and reporting of breakthroughs in basic chemical research, communicated to a worldwide audience without barriers, through open access. All article publication charges have been waived, meaning that the journal is free to read and free to publish.
Every Wednesday we are sharing one story from Chemical Science, highlighting the cutting-edge work we publish. Follow @ChemicalScience and #ChemSciPicks on Twitter to stay up to date.
If you are a journalist wishing to receive brand new research from our journals under embargo, please contact the press office using the contact box below, to be added to our distribution list.
Press office
- Tel:
- +44 (0) 20 7440 3351
- Email:
- Send us an email