Biocatalysis: Enzymatic Synthesis for Industrial Applications

Biocatalysis is becoming ever more popular and prevalent in the synthesis of fine chemicals, agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals and is c becoming much more widely used in industrial chemical processes generally, so this review is very timely. The review includes sections on the synthesis of “Alcohols”, “Amines”, “Carbonyls, Carboxylic acids and Derivatives”, “Glycosylation”, “Complex Molecules” and

Pyrylium salts- kryptonite for the Sandmeyer reaction?

I often stumble across interesting chemistry when I peruse my twitter feed. It’s not only rich in new chemistry highlights and ASAP links to journal articles but also chemists sharing their own experiences with both new and existing methodology- good, bad, and sometimes with pictures!- a dimension missing from just reading peer-reviewed journal articles and,

Could this be a case for Mulder and Scully? – Aryl ether synthesis under mild conditions

As with all things in life, necessity is the mother of invention. Synthetic chemistry, as an enabling science, will always rise to the challenge and meet the increasing demand for simpler and more efficient methods to construct fundamentally important structures and functional groups, particularly if these units are conserved privileged pharmacophores imparting biological activity to

Identify the reagents…

A recent paper by Jonathan H. George et al at the University of Adelaide describes a biomimetic total synthesis of the Rhododendron meroterpenoids rubiginosins A and G. Can you identify reagents or intermediates B, D, E and H? Answers and a reference will be posted in a month, along with another problem. Enjoy!    

The I’s have it- 1,2-diamination of unactivated olefins using catalytic iodine

Any new synthetic methodology, as well as advancing the state of the art, should also consider a few other key criteria, one of which is to build complexity from common feedstock materials- ideally using cheap and environmentally friendly reagents and raw materials. Unactivated (or unsubstituted) olefins, used largely by the polymer industry, represent a rich

A radical approach to C-H chlorination

My first experiences of radical chlorination where something of a baptism of fire. Generation of chlorine radicals from chlorine gas under intense UV irradiation in a custom-made photochemical flow reactor was as scary as it sounds to a very young, yet to be trained chemistry technician starting out in his carrier in the chemical industry.

Making light work of organic synthesis: carbon monoxide- step forward

Perhaps the most atom economical method for introduction of a carbonyl group into an organic substrate is to use carbon monoxide.1 Millions of tonnes of bulk chemicals are converted to various carbonyl-containing derivatives that are essential commodity products in daily life using this simple C1 unit year on year. Not surprisingly the molecule has a

Vaska’s complex- Reagent of the month

Iridium is ubiquitous in organic synthesis. In the last decade alone we have seen its impact as a phtoredox catalyst for a wide range of light-driven reactions that are difficult to achieve using traditional synthetic methods.1 In addition, iridium has rich utility in C-H activation chemistry- a recent review by Cramer highlighting chiral complexes as

NEW Electronic Course Brochure

With many of our events going ONLINE, we have invested in some new software to allow us to share all our course manuals electronically in an e-Reader format. You can view how this works below by clicking on our NEW Electronic Course Brochure:

Process Chemistry Jobs

Did you know that we have a ‘Job Area’ on our website? If you have a vacancy and are looking for a process chemist or chemical engineer, why not post your position on our website? We have 1,000’s of visitors looking at our site for process chemistry training and events, so thought this is an