The research was co-led by Zhang Xiaheng, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, and Xue Xiaosong, a professor with the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, and published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature.
The researchers proposed a straightforward alternative to the expensive, complex and dangerous method used by the chemical industry for more than a century to synthesise drugs and pesticides from a class of organic compounds called amines.
According to the paper, the team’s approach overcomes the many issues that have plagued the classical method – including the risk of explosions – and holds promise for making the production of important chemicals safer and more affordable.
“Overall, the authors have delivered a true tour de force here, not just developing the method but doing extensive scope, in-depth mechanistic studies and synthetic applications that clearly demonstrate the capabilities of this chemistry to be useful in many contexts,” Bagley said.
