Inspired by light-sensing bacteria that thrive near hydrothermal vents like this one, synthetic chemists use vitamin B12 to catalyze valuable hydrocarbons known as olefins, or alkenes.
Inspired by light-sensing bacteria that thrive near hydrothermal vents like this one, synthetic chemists use vitamin B12 to catalyze valuable hydrocarbons known as olefins, or alkenes. Rice lab discovers light-driven catalyst forms olefins for drug, agrochemical manufacturing Inspired by light-sensing bacteria that thrive near hot oceanic vents , synthetic chemists at Rice University have found a mild method to make valuable hydrocarbons known as olefins, or alkenes. Like the bacteria, the researchers use vitamin B12, eliminating harsh chemicals typically needed to make precursor molecules essential to the manufacture of drugs and agrochemicals. The open-access work by Julian West , an assistant professor of chemistry, and his colleagues appears in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Chemical Science. "Arguably, these olefins, or alkenes, are the most useful functional groups in a molecule," said West, an assistant professor of chemistry recently named one of Forbes Magazine's 30 Under 30 rising stars in science. "A functional group is like a foothold in climbing: It lets you get to where you want to go, what you want to make. "We've had methods to make olefins for a long time, but a lot of these classic methods - late 19th or early 20th century - use incredibly strong bases, things that would burn you and would definitely burn your molecule if it had anything sensitive on it," he said.
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