Chemists develop new approach to inserting single carbon atoms

Skeletal editing employed to enlarge molecule rings. The experimental setup - the research team used visible light for photocatalysis. Uni MS - Fu-Peng Wu Molecules with a central ring system play an important role in the search for active ingredients for new pharmaceutical products - and it is important that the rings should have the correct size if the desired product is to be manufactured as efficiently as possible. For this purpose, an international team of chemists led by Prof. Frank Glorius (University of Münster) and Prof. Osvaldo Gutierrez (Texas A&M University, USA) have developed a precise and efficient tool using "single atom skeletal editing". Their new approach consists in inserting a single carbon atom into the carbon skeleton of cyclic compounds, enabling the ring size to be adjusted from five to six-membered rings. The team has now published the method in the journal "Nature Catalysis". The results of the study, say the researchers, open up the way for the design and modification of complex molecular structures.