Heidelberg University and BASF extend collaboration at jointly operated catalysis laboratory CaRLa

One focus is now on new processes for chemical recycling of plastic waste

11-Dec-2023 - BASF and Heidelberg University will continue to jointly operate the Catalysis Research Laboratory (CaRLa) for a further five years. The two partners signed an agreement to continue this successful research collaboration until 2028. Currently, 10 researchers are employed at CaRLa. Since the ...

A long-awaited breakthrough: An electrical switch to control chemical reactions

An electrical device that makes it easy to activate chemical reactions in a «greener» way

16-Oct-2023 - New pharmaceuticals, cleaner fuels, biodegradable plastics: in order to meet society’s needs, chemists have to develop new synthesis methods to obtain new products that do not exist in their natural state. A research group at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), in collaboration with Cardiff ...

For shorter approval times: New process simulates decomposition of too long stored drugs in 15 minutes

New approach represents a paradigm shift in the application of mechanochemical processes in organic chemistry

31-May-2023 - Before their approval, pharmaceuticals not only have to be tested for their effectiveness and safety, but also for their stability, since they are usually stored in pharmacies and private households for years and are not allowed to change. To test their stability, a process is needed that ...

Let there be light: Synthesizing organic compounds

23-Sep-2019 - Every biological reaction is a chemical reaction. The exchange of carbon dioxide for oxygen in our lungs and blood cells, for example, is caused by molecules releasing chemicals and reforming with new ones. The uncontrolled replication of cancerous cells is the result of broken chemical compounds ...

Inhoffen Medal 2019 awarded to specialist for synthetic organic chemistry

08-Apr-2019 - Medically relevant compounds can often be found in nature. To make them suitable for drugs, they need to be isolated from their natural sources. If sufficient quantities of the agent cannot be isolated in that manner, chemical synthesis comes into play. Without chemical synthesis, many agents ...

How to free the trapped radicals from the carboxyl?

Scientists creates a cheap and simple visible light catalytic system

02-Apr-2019 - The removal of carboxyl groups and the release of alkyl radical fragments from the tight binding of carboxyl groups are one of the most interesting and promising directions in organic synthesis, especially in the field of new drug synthesis. Scientists around the world designed various catalysts ...

Simplified synthesis

Researchers dramatically simplify and streamline organic chemical synthesis

01-Apr-2019 - For the first time researchers discovered a simple and highly efficient way to produce certain kinds of organic compounds. The team from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Tokyo report their new method - which uses a novel iron catalyst - can not only simplify organic synthesis but ...

When changing one atom makes molecules better

A method to replace hydrogen with fluorine in organic molecules makes drugs more effective

07-Mar-2019 - The development and improvement of pharmaceuticals plays the central role in the ongoing battle against human disease. Organic synthesis is the field that enables these developments as it offers the toolbox to diversify chemical structures. The group of Nuno Maulide, recently named the Scientist ...

Nitrogen gets in the fast lane for chemical synthesis

Chemists discover way to simplify synthesis of valuable precursor for drugs, other compounds

12-Feb-2019 - Rice University scientists have given organic chemists a boost with their latest discovery of a one-step method to add nitrogen to compounds for drugs, pesticides, fertilizers and other products. Rice synthetic organic chemist László Kürti said the method is a major step forward as it quickens ...

This computer program makes pharma patents airtight

21-Jan-2019 - Routes to making life-saving medications and other pharmaceutical compounds are among the most carefully protected trade secrets in global industry. Building on recent work programming computers to identify synthetic pathways leading to pharmaceutically complex molecules, researchers in Poland ...