Iron catalyst could make important chemical reactions cheaper and more eco-friendly

06-Jun-2022 - A catalyst is a key ingredient for many chemical reactions. It facilitates a molecule to change into another molecule, without being changed itself, meaning it can be used multiple times. However, many catalysts are made of precious metals, making them expensive and potentially harmful to the ...

Chemists develop variety of industrially important synthetic process

04-Mar-2021 - The formation of double bonds between two carbon atoms (C=C) is of central significance in natural organisms. The vast majority of natural substances therefore contain one or more of these double bonds. Compounds with C=C double bonds, the alkenes or olefins, also play a prominent role in the ...

Catalyst adds fluorine-containing groups to make new compounds

25-Jan-2017 - Drugs that contain one or more fluorine atoms tend to be more stable, more powerful, and easier for the body to absorb. For those reasons, drug developers would like to be able to incorporate fluorine or a fluorine-containing unit known as trifluoromethyl into new experimental drugs, but this has ...

E-selective macrocyclic ring-closing metathesis

11-Jan-2017 - Using ring-closing metathesis to exploit the properties of carbon-carbon double bonds, researchers from Boston College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a new catalytic approach for the preparation of compounds essential to drug discovery. The catalyst, which contains ...

Bringing artificial enzymes closer to nature

31-Aug-2016 - Scientists at the University of Basel, ETH Zurich in Basel, and NCCR Molecular Systems Engineering have developed an artificial metalloenzyme that catalyses a reaction inside of cells without equivalent in nature. This could be a prime example for creating new non-natural metabolic pathways ...

Researchers produce two bio-fuels from a single algae

30-Jan-2015 - A common algae commercially grown to make fish food holds promise as a source for both biodiesel and jet fuel, according to a new study published in the journal Energy & Fuels. The researchers, led by Greg O'Neil of Western Washington University and Chris Reddy of Woods Hole Oceanographic ...

Chemist stitches up speedier chemical reactions

New details about the Piers catalyst will help chemical industry improve products

11-May-2010 - Some people have streets named after them. Warren Piers, a chemistry professor at the University of Calgary, has a catalyst penned after him. And in a paper published in the online edition of Nature Chemistry, Piers and former graduate student Edwin van der Eide reveal the inner workings of the ...

New catalysts promise faster, cleaner and more efficient research platform

Boston College and MIT researchers detail new class of catalysts

18-Nov-2008 - A new class of exceptionally effective catalysts that promote the powerful olefin metathesis reaction has been discovered by a team of Boston College and MIT scientists, opening up a vast new scientific platform to researchers in medicine, biology and materials. The new catalysts can be easily ...