Collins, K.D. & Glorius, F. Nat. Chem. 5, 597–601 (2013).

New organic chemistry reactions are often slow to be incorporated into the chemist's toolbox. This is likely because insufficient information about the tolerance of a reaction to various functional groups and the tolerance of various functional groups to the reaction is given in the first report of a new reaction, write Collins and Glorius. Such information can take years to gather and is usually fragmented across various publications. As a solution to this vexing issue, Collins and Glorius propose a rapid screening method to guide chemists in assessing the functional-group tolerance of a new organic reaction. This simple screen involves using gas chromatography to examine reaction reactivity in the presence of a panel of standard compounds representing various functional groups. Such a systematic analysis should help facilitate the rapid adoption of novel reactions.