Discovery Of A Solution To A Century-Old Chemistry Problem
Discovery Of A Solution To A Century-Old Chemistry Problem
Dave Stuart, Ottawa PhD student, along with his supervisor Dr. Keith Fagnou, both from the Department of Chemistry discovered a solution to the more than 100 years problem in chemistry on how to couple two unactivated carbon atoms together with the help of a catalyst.
Biaryl molecules, the molecules that are formed through the coupling are the materials that are used in light emitting diodes (LEDs), electron transport devices and liquid crystals found in modern LCD screens, and are found in approximately one in 20 medicines on the market today, such as Vancomycin, a last resort antibiotic and Glivec, an anti-cancer agent. Stuart’s solution will allow chemists to create biaryl molecules in a much more environmentally-friendly way and reduce costs significantly.
The Catalytic Cross-Coupling of Unactivated Arenes, an article which will be published by the researchers, outlined in detail Stuarts work which was described as “one of the most important discoveries in this field” and it will “be used as a flagship for this fundamental area of chemical science.”
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