Building blocks of the future

Professor Varinder Aggarwal is no ordinary builder. He and his team in the School of Chemistry have just discovered a new technique that could hasten the development of new drugs for today's incurable diseases ' by building complex organic molecules. Complex organic molecules are finding increasing applications in virtually all aspects of our lives, from the pill we take for heart disease and the insecticide used in the production of the food we eat, to the flat screens of mobile phones. However, the science of creating complex organic molecules, known as organic synthesis, is exacting. It requires years of training to master the principles and then, rather like building an enormous cathedral, many years to assemble the building blocks into the required molecule. So why is organic synthesis so hard? Organic synthesis involves the piecing together of smaller organic building blocks until the target molecule is created, but this process is not as simple as putting one row of bricks on top of another. In organic synthesis the two ends of the building blocks first have to be activated in some way to make them attracted to each other so they can bond together.