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Organic chemistry

Reactions at the end of a tether

Nature volume 487, pages 48–49 (2012)Cite this article

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A remarkable reaction that reverses the chemical behaviour of molecules known as 1,3-diketones allows a new strategy that could be used to prepare a range of potentially useful, naturally occurring compounds. See Letter p.86

Building architecturally complex organic molecules from simple building blocks is akin to building the Taj Mahal from rough chunks of marble — with breathtaking results arising from unassuming starting materials. The process often involves making molecular building blocks called nucleophiles and electrophiles, which attract each other. Once pulled together by attraction, the blocks can react with each other, creating a new, more complex molecule. On page 86 of this issue, Leighton and colleagues1 describe some clever molecular choreography that enables them to convert a nucleophile into an electrophile, so that it can react with another nucleophilic partner. Not only is this work of fundamental scientific interest, but it also paves the way for short synthetic routes of structurally complex molecules.

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Figure 1: Allylation reactions of aldehydes and 1,3-diketones.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stefan Roesner and Varinder K. Aggarwal are at the School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK.,

    Stefan Roesner & Varinder K. Aggarwal

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  1. Stefan Roesner
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  2. Varinder K. Aggarwal
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Correspondence to Varinder K. Aggarwal.

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Roesner, S., Aggarwal, V. Reactions at the end of a tether. Nature 487, 48–49 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11381

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