Xu-Cheng Gan and Benxiang Zhang were the other Co-First Authors of the paper in addition to Dao.
Materials called catalysts are employed to quicken a chemical reaction's pace. A true “reaction soup” might occur when multiple catalysts are required to encourage a particular reaction and achieve the intended outcome.
Catalysts can be costly, they do not always respond as planned, and the more catalysts employed, the more waste is generated. However, the scientists at Scripps Research found that a single catalyst might fulfill several important roles.
A difficult chemical reaction often requires many interacting components, and a benefit of this work is it is incredibly simple.
Ryan Shenvi, Professor and Study Co-Senior Author, Department of Chemistry, Scripps Research
Using a cheap iron-based catalyst, the team found straightforward conditions to change two key kinds of chemical feedstocks, raw materials used to power machinery or industrial processes, into quaternary carbons: Carboxylic acids and olefins. These chemical feedstocks are very inexpensive and readily available.
Shenvi explained, “Similar reactions have been gaining traction lately, so this discovery was inevitable, the pieces were already in the literature, but no one had put them together before.”
Overall, the work emphasizes the continued importance of chemistry in creating contemporary technologies and medications. It was conducted in cooperation with the lab of Senior Co-Author Phil Baran, PhD, the Dr. Richard A. Lerner Endowed Chair in the Department of Chemistry at Scripps Research.
This work is yet another striking demonstration of the power of the collaborative atmosphere at Scripps Research to unearth new transformations that can have a dramatic impact on simplifying the practice of organic synthesis.
Phil Baran, Study Co-Senior Author, Department of Chemistry, Scripps Research
The National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, Nanjing King, Pfizer, and Biogen funded the study.
In addition to Gan, Zhang, Dao, Baran, and Shenvi, the study's authors are Cheng Bi, Maithili Pokle, Liyan Kan, and Yu Kawamata of Scripps Research; Michael R. Collins of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals; Chet C. Tyrol of Pfizer Medicine Design; and Philippe N. Bolduc and Michael Nicastri of Biogen Inc.
Journal Reference:
Gan, X., et al. (2024) Carbon quaternization of redox active esters and olefins by decarboxylative coupling. Science. doi.org/10.1126/science.adn5619