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Authors
Nature 452, xiii (27 March 2008) | doi:10.1038/7186xiiia; Published online 26 March 2008
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Professorships
- Ruhr University Bochum
- Bochum 44780 Germany
Assistant Editor - Nature Biotechnology
- Nature Publishing Group
- New York, NY
Making the paper: Benjamin List
Organic chemists had all but given up on acetaldehyde when it came to certain types of reactions because this deceptively simple molecule has a tendency to go through many side reactions. Benjamin List's group at the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany, have managed to tame the highly reactive molecule and use it in the Mannich reaction (a process for forming carbon–carbon bonds), opening the door to a broad range of applications in drug design.
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