Thianthrenium chemistry allows for reactivity switch of a nucleophilic amino acid into a versatile intermediate

Useful and broadly applicable tool in the field of chemical biology

03-Jan-2024 - Chemical diversification of proteins is an important concept in the study of biological processes and the complex structures of the proteins themselves. It involves using quick and mild reactions that selectively target a specific amino acid and therefore a building block of proteins. Cysteine is ...

More Sustainability with Mechanochemistry

Research project will develop new environmentally friendly methods for manufacturing active pharmaceutical ingredients using mechanochemistry as a disruptive technology

29-Sep-2022 - Flour, coffee or spices: Many people know the principle of a mill from the kitchen. But special mills are also used for research purposes in the laboratories of the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung. The scientists are convinced that mechanochemistry can make the chemical industry more ...

New organocatalysts can compete with enzymes

Particular interest to the chemical and pharmaceutical industries

09-May-2022 - Organocatalysis not only provides an imaginable alternative to classical catalytic processes, but is even more efficient in many cases - and thus of particular interest to the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. More than 20 years ago, Ben List and his Scottish colleague David MacMillan found ...

Homogeneous hydrogenolysis reaction with molecular palladium catalyst

New method enables simple tritium labeling and could provide added value to the discovery and development of pharmaceuticals

20-Dec-2021 - Tritium 3H, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, is commonly used in medicinal chemistry as a label to follow the course of a drug in the human body. Chemists like to use the technique to evaluate drug candidates and their metabolism. However, synthesis of the radiolabeled molecules is ...

New findings on energy conversion during photosynthesis

Remarkable and unexpected insights into the workings of the biological system: Quantum chemical calculations illuminate excited states of chlorophyll molecules

30-Oct-2020 - The sun sustains all life on earth through photosynthesis, the process by which plants and other organisms convert the energy of sunlight into chemical energy, stored in the bonds of organic molecules. A central challenge of modern science is to replicate this process using synthetic catalysts, ...

Awards from the Bayer Science & Education Foundation

Bayer Early Excellence in Science Award 2012: EUR 30,000 for young research scientists

11-Jan-2013 - The winners of the Bayer Early Excellence in Science Award 2012 have been announced. The prizes, each worth EUR 10,000, have been awarded by an independent scientific committee of the Bayer Science & Education Foundation. The Bayer foundation presents for the fourth time the Bayer Early ...

Scientists unlock mystery in important photosynthesis step

24-Feb-2010 - An international team of scientists, including two from Arizona State University, have taken a significant step closer to unlocking the secrets of photosynthesis, and possibly to cleaner fuels. Plants and algae, as well as cyanobacteria, use photosynthesis to produce oxygen and "fuels," the ...

Enzyme design with remote effects

Chemists in Mülheim devise a new way of optimising enzymes for industrial applications

17-Feb-2010 - Engineers are unlikely to tinker with the cooling system if they want to increase the size of an engine. Yet chemists at the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research have adopted an approach similar to this in their efforts to optimise an enzyme for practical applications. They substituted two ...