The Lab Notes

Exciting News from Scientific Update! We are thrilled to announce the launch of the Young Chemist Award at our 10th Winter Process Chemistry Conference, happening in Birmingham from December 9-11, 2024. This is a fantastic opportunity for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th-year PhD students to showcase their cutting-edge research and connect with leaders in the field…

Scientific Update Welcomes Caroline Yeandle as New Marketing Coordinator We're excited to welcome Caroline Yeandle as our new Marketing Coordinator at Scientific Update! With over 27 years of experience in marketing and event management, Caroline joins us with a strong background, having graduated from the University of Manchester with a BA Hons degree in 2000.…

Written by John Studley, 6th September 2024 One area of synthetic chemistry I’ve never crossed paths with is the manipulation and functionalisation of carbohydrates. Having been brought-up in the small molecule world the challenges of sugar chemistry have always been on the periphery of my interest in organic chemistry, other than a tacit appreciation of…

Scientific Update Welcomes New Senior Process Chemist Dr. Bec Newton Scientific Update is delighted to announce the recent appointment of Dr. Bec Newton as a Senior Process Chemist. Bec completed her chemistry degree at the University of Bristol in 1999 where she gained early industrial experience with AstraZeneca (then Zeneca), Avonmouth as an industrial placement…

  Why Attend the 52nd Organic Process Research Development (OPRD) Conference in Prague Join us in the vibrant city of Prague on 23-25 September 2024 for the 52nd OPRD Conference, where cutting-edge scientific content meets our renowned networking opportunities. This event is a unique chance to connect with fellow chemists, engage in thought-provoking Q&A sessions,…

Do you use Purge calculations as a fundamental part of your process for effective management of Mutagenic Impurities? Andy Teasdale, author of ‘ICH Quality Guidelines – An Implementation Guide’ has recently published some case studies with co-workers [https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.oprd.4c00207] which he will also include in his training course later this year. Andy says… Recently the journey…

Written by John Studley, 24th July 2024 An useful paper published recently by the Pfizer team at Groton describes development of a robust process for the late-stage chemoselective saponification of an aryl ester present in the GLP-1R agonist danuglipron, a first-in class orally bioavailable molecule currently in clinical development for glycaemic control in patients with…

Written by Jonathan Moseley - July 4th, 2024. A recent review on the “Diversification of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Processes: Taking the Plunge into the Non-PGM Catalyst Pool” in ACS Catalysis by a combined academic/pharma/catalyst supplier group caught my eye this week (ACS Catal. 2024, 14, 9708-9733; https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.4c01809) (PGM = platinum group metal, specifically Ru, Rh, Pd,…

Written by John Studley - June 13th, 2024 Aryl diazonium salts are a mainstay of organic and industrial chemistry. A recent review by Mo and Wang in Chemical Reviews gives a detailed summary of their properties and applications.1a,b Discovered in 1858 by Johann Peter Griefs, these versatile intermediates are prepared by low temperature reaction of…

Written by Ben Littler - May 16th, 2024. No piece of apparatus caused me more trouble in graduate school in the mid-1990’s than water cooled reflux condensers. The laboratory that I worked in was several floors up in a relatively old building which resulted in wide fluctuations in water pressure. Setting up an overnight reaction…