Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry Blog

One of the simplest and most utilised chemical reactions is the burning of hydrocarbons and while combustion is an excellent way to exploit the energy content of this naturally occurring resource, there is a lot more we can do with the ‘inert’ C-H bond.

C-H activation allows us to convert cheaper hydrocarbon starting materials into more valuable and versatile products; leading to the development of a wide range of reagents and catalysts that activate C-H bonds. To keep you up to date with the latest developments in the field we have created this article collection, where all articles are free to download until 15^th December.

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Beers, wines and cheeses are enjoyed around the world today and have been for millennia. In fact the practices of brewing and cheese-making pre-date recorded history so it is difficult to accurately determine when we first started using naturally occurring enzymes and microorganisms to create valuable (and in this case, tastier!) products.

Biocatalysts are of course used in far more diverse applications than the creation of food-stuffs, including in many organic syntheses and in the generation of fine chemicals. Due to their natural design, they can offer superior selectivity for particular products and have a far lower environmental impact than many traditional catalysts. Our knowledge and understanding of biocatalysts has increased dramatically in the last few decades, which has allowed us to develop biologically modified and biomimetic catalysts for a range of applications.

To keep you up to date with the latest advances in this rapidly expanding field we have collected together these high impact articles and made them free to access until the 31^st October!

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Physical organic chemistry, the study of the underlying principles and rationale of organic reactions which looks at the interrelationships between the structure and reactivity of organic molecules, now encompasses a wider range of contexts than ever before.

Making use of tools such as chemical kinetics, quantum chemistry, thermochemistry, chemical equilibrium and computational chemistry, to name but a few, researchers are investigating topics such as:

•    Supramolecular interactions, aggregation and reactivity
•    The computation of transition states and mechanisms
•    Molecular recognition, reactions and catalysis in biology
•    Materials where molecular structure controls function
•    Structure activity correlations
•    Mechanisms in synthesis and catalysis

To highlight some of the cutting edge research that ChemComm, Chemical Science and Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry receive we have collected a selection of articles for you to enjoy. These will be free to access until 25th September!

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Perhaps the most well-known applications of organometallics in catalysis are the Ziegler–Natta catalysts which are used to generate polymers, the catalysts are made up of mixtures of transition metal halides and organo-aluminium complexes. Karl Ziegler and Giulio Natta were awarded the 1963 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their discovery and development of the catalysts, which today are the most commonly used for the manufacture of polythene.

The esteemed history of organometallics are not to be under-estimated and include Grignard’s reagents, the Heck reaction, Schrock catalysts, Grubbs’ catalysts and the Suzuki Coupling to name just a few. Organometallic compounds have revolutionised science and industry and to keep you up to date with the latest break-through research being made across all areas of organometallics in catalysis, we have made this cross-journal article collection free until the 26^th September.

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Catalysts are key to some of the most important reactions on the planet; a world without the Haber process or catalysts to crack crude oil is difficult to imagine. Not to mention the enzymatic reactions that are crucial to all life on earth.

Organocatalysts are an important class of catalyst and consist of carbon-based molecules often functionalised with oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen or phosphorus. They have shown promise in a range of reactions including hydrogenation, Diels-Alder, Michael and Mannich reactions, and are of particular interest in asymmetric reactions.

To help keep you up-to-date with the latest in cutting-edge organocatalytic research we have made the following articles free to access until the 9th July. After reading all these there will be little you won’t know about the exciting world of organocatalysis!

Click here for the full list of free articles