A new molecular catalyst shortens a widely used reaction into a one-step process, with a bonus: It makes the reaction’s products into one of two possible mirror-image forms.
When chemists synthesize compounds, they often add a protective group of atoms to a specific site on a molecule to prevent that site from reacting in subsequent steps. For example, a silicon-based group is added to an alcohol site in many syntheses of organic molecules, says Marc L. Snapper of Boston College.