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Catalysis

Triumph of a chemical underdog

In the fable of the tortoise and the hare, the reptilian slowcoach beats its fleet-footed rival in a race. A zinc catalyst recreates this story by giving a less reactive chemical group a turn of speed over a rival group.

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Figure 1: Selective reactions with a zinc catalyst.

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Peris, G., Miller, S. Triumph of a chemical underdog. Nature 452, 415–416 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/452415a

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