Chemists get twice the reactivity from a single substitution handle
Chemists have discovered a new reaction that allows for the creation of 1,2-disubstituted products from a single carbon-halogen bond. This serendipitous finding, involving a concerted reaction mechanism, enables the construction of complex molecular scaffolds more efficiently than previously possible.
Why it matters
This advancement in organic chemistry provides researchers with a more efficient tool for synthesizing complex molecules, potentially accelerating drug discovery and material science.
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Harken back to your early days in organic chemistry class and you’ll recall learning how S N 1 and S N 2 substitution reactions transform carbon–halogen bonds. Chemists have now figured out a way to use that single C–X substitution handle to make 1,2-disubstituted products . The reaction creates molecular complexity quickly and constructs scaffolds not previously imagined from alkyl halides ( Science 2026, DOI: 10.1126/science.aef0766).
The reaction discovery was serendipitous, says University at Buffalo’s Patricia Z. Musacchio , who led the research effort with Binghamton University’s Jennifer S. Hirschi . The origins of the discovery came when Mrinmoy Das, a postdoctoral researcher in Musacchio’s lab, found an unexpected difunctionalized product while running a photoredox-triggered hydrogen-atom transfer reaction.
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