Garlic ingredient from the lab bench

Total synthesis of ajoene, a biologically active component in oil extracts of garlic

24-Aug-2018 - Fresh garlic extracts contain a variety of healthy organosulfur compounds, among which ajoene forms a major oil-extractable ingredient. Now, chemists in the United Kingdom have synthesized ajoene from readily available components for the first time. The results show that ajoene is accessible on a ...

Two new ways to fluorinated structures

Chemo-enzymatic synthesis of fluorinated antibiotics

07-Aug-2018 - Fluorinated structures make up more than 20 percent of modern drugs, but benign and fast fluorination schemes are scarce. In a study scientists have now combined dynamic kinetic resolution and nucleophilic fluorination for the asymmetric synthesis of florfenicol, a veterinary antibiotic. After ...

More solar power thanks to titanium

29-Aug-2017 - Earth-abundant, cheap metals are promising photocatalytic electrode materials in artificial photosynthesis. A team of Chinese scientists now reports that a thin layer of titania beneath hematite nanorods can boost the performance of the photoanode. As outlined in their report, the nanostructured ...

Man versus (synthesis) machine

Active machine learning for the discovery and crystallization of gigantic polyoxometalate molecules

04-Aug-2017 - Who is the better experimentalist, a human or a robot? When it comes to exploring synthetic and crystallization conditions for inorganic gigantic molecules, actively learning machines are clearly ahead, as demonstrated by British Scientists in an experiment with polyoxometalates. Polyoxometalates ...

A Fragrance That Breaks the Rules

11-Dec-2012 - Approximately one third of all fragrances on the market contain vetiver oil as a key ingredient, for which no synthetic odorant is commercially available. Instead it has to be distilled from the dried roots of vetiver grass. To find out about the structural requirements of vetiver odorants, ...

Self-Inflicted Asymmetry

Crystallization-induced asymmetric synthesis of nonracemic platinum(IV) polysulfide tris(chelate) complexes

02-Aug-2012 - Asymmetry of molecules can make the difference between a drug and a poison. It is therefore vital to control this parameter in synthesis. Polish researchers found how stirring a reaction mixture in the presence of suitable seeding crystals can strongly affect the products. They report their ...

Stay Calm with Domino

Preparation of Benzodiazepine-Containing Drugs

26-Mar-2012 - Drugs such as sedatives, hypnotics, and anticonvulsants often contain a benzodiazepine moiety. They are useful in the treatment of, for example, anxiety, insomnia, agitation, and seizures. The 1,5-benzodiazepin-2-one skeleton in particular is considered a “privileged” scaffold in medicinal ...

Highway to Hydrogenase: A New Way to Obtain the Hydrogenase Cofactor Azadithiolate

20-Jan-2011 - To obtain hydrogen as an energy-rich and environmentally "clean" fuel by an inexpensive, simple method without using expensive metal catalysts preoccupies scientists around the world. Hydrogenases, enzymes employed by organisms to yield hydrogen under anaerobic conditions, are being studied ...

Turbo-Packed RNA

Turbo Reagent Allows Precise Synthesis of tRNA Nucleosides

08-Nov-2010 - Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a biologically important molecule that is very similar to DNA, the blueprint of life. Naturally occurring RNAs, such as transfer RNA (tRNA), contain modified building blocks (“nucleosides”), which are involved in decoding genetic information. Deazaguanosine nucleosides, ...

Bismuth for Bone Cement: Water-soluble cluster is key to the formation of a hybrid material

01-Nov-2010 - Organic–inorganic hybrid materials, uniting the advantages of their organic and inorganic parts, are used for a wide variety of applications. However, making a homogeneous composite material is only possible if a solvent can be found in which both components are soluble. Materials containing the ...