Josh:: Finally, it seems that we may have a way to efficiently create only one stereoisomers like biological systems do. One of the triumphs of modern organic chemistry was the synthesis of taxol, because of all the stereocenters. If this technique is as good as they claim it is, it will let us synthesize complex molecules such as taxol much easier.

When chemists want to produce a lot of a substance — such as a newly designed drug — they often turn to catalysts, molecules that speed chemical reactions. Many jobs require highly specialized catalysts, and finding one in just the right shape to connect with certain molecules can be difficult. Natural catalysts, such as enzymes in the human body that help us digest food, get around this problem by shape-shifting to suit the task at hand.

Chemists have made little progress in getting synthetic molecules to mimic this shape shifting behavior — until now.

Ohio State University chemists have created a synthetic catalyst that can fold its molecular structure into a specific shape for a specific job, similar to natural catalysts.

In laboratory tests, researchers were able to cause a synthetic catalyst — an enzyme-like molecule that enables hydrogenation, a reaction used to transform fats in the food industry — to fold itself into a specific shape, or into its mirror image.

The study appears in the June 25 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. … Continue Reading »