Nobel Prize win a great step forward for ‘green chemistry’

PARIS – Take a boring and ubiquitous element and turn it into something exciting and extraordinarily versatile – a zinger in chemistry’s Periodic Table.

That’s the achievement of the trio of men who were yesterday awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize for chemistry. Yves Chauvin of France and Americans Richard Schrock and Robert Grubbs were singled out for revolutionising carbon chemistry, the science that provides the backbone to today’s lifestyle.Also called organic chemistry, the synthesis of carbon has been transformed by the trio’s work in a process known as metathesis.Under this, a catalyst is used to slice through the bonds of carbon-based molecules, enabling them to re-form in different ways and thus create new compounds.The benefits are already legion, from innumerable new forms of plastics capable of coping with high stress, exotic shapes and extreme temperatures to better industrial coatings, fuel additives, insecticides, fertilisers and even synthetic pheromones to trap or repel insects.The process has not only widened the range of synthetics – it has also made production leaner and greener.Another big area of organic interest is in drug research, helping scientists who seek new molecules with which to attack the AIDS virus, bacteria, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and other ailments.”To date only a tiny fraction of the enormous diversity of organic molecules has been explored by synthetic chemists, yet it has already given us new pharmaceuticals – the potential is enormous,” said the Nobel citation.”Imagination will soon be the only limit to what molecules can be built.”It called metathesis “an example of how important basic science has been applied for the benefit of man, society and the environment”.Although the research has led to new drugs and plastic materials, only a small part of its potential applications have so far been looked into including the synthesis of insect pheromones, herbicides and additives for fuels.The process, which cuts the number of steps necessary to synthesise new molecules, thereby reducing cost, is also yet to be widely used in industry.The importance of carbon bonds was recognised in the last century as petroleum began to be widely used.Chemists were long able to produce new substances using a catalyst, although their understanding of how it worked was poor and catalysts were often inefficient and dirty.But it was not until 1971, when Chauvin, of the French Institute for Petroleum, explained how metathesis works and outlined candidate metal catalysts that could do the job.Chauvin’s goal was a catalyst that would be both stable and selective, able to slice through the strong double-carbon bonds rather than single ones and leave other parts of the molecule intact.Nineteen years later, Schrock produced the first efficient metal catalyst, based on molybdenum.Its disadvantage, though, was that it was sensitive to moisture and oxygen, which shortened the catalyst’s life.Schrock’s catalyst was bettered in 1992 by Grubbs with a ruthenium alternative that is stable in air and moisture and is the basis for many catalytic processes in science and industry today.In addition to smashing the previous limits of making synthetic compounds, the trio are warmly praised for their contributions to environmental health.Improved metathesis means that plastics-making requires fewer steps and can be carried out at lower temperatures and pressure, which in turn entails less energy and wastage of raw materials than before.In many cases, production needs less harmful solvents and results in less hazardous waste – “a great step forward for ‘green chemistry’”, the Nobel citation said.In an unusual step, two men and two women from the Nobel committee took to the floor of the wood-panelled academy hall and danced quietly from partner to partner to give a simple illustration of the trio’s complex work.- Nampa-AFP-ReutersYves Chauvin of France and Americans Richard Schrock and Robert Grubbs were singled out for revolutionising carbon chemistry, the science that provides the backbone to today’s lifestyle.Also called organic chemistry, the synthesis of carbon has been transformed by the trio’s work in a process known as metathesis.Under this, a catalyst is used to slice through the bonds of carbon-based molecules, enabling them to re-form in different ways and thus create new compounds.The benefits are already legion, from innumerable new forms of plastics capable of coping with high stress, exotic shapes and extreme temperatures to better industrial coatings, fuel additives, insecticides, fertilisers and even synthetic pheromones to trap or repel insects.The process has not only widened the range of synthetics – it has also made production leaner and greener.Another big area of organic interest is in drug research, helping scientists who seek new molecules with which to attack the AIDS virus, bacteria, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and other ailments.”To date only a tiny fraction of the enormous diversity of organic molecules has been explored by synthetic chemists, yet it has already given us new pharmaceuticals – the potential is enormous,” said the Nobel citation.”Imagination will soon be the only limit to what molecules can be built.”It called metathesis “an example of how important basic science has been applied for the benefit of man, society and the environment”.Although the research has led to new drugs and plastic materials, only a small part of its potential applications have so far been looked into including the synthesis of insect pheromones, herbicides and additives for fuels.The process, which cuts the number of steps necessary to synthesise new molecules, thereby reducing cost, is also yet to be widely used in industry.The importance of carbon bonds was recognised in the last century as petroleum began to be widely used.Chemists were long able to produce new substances using a catalyst, although their understanding of how it worked was poor and catalysts were often inefficient and dirty.But it was not until 1971, when Chauvin, of the French Institute for Petroleum, explained how metathesis works and outlined candidate metal catalysts that could do the job.Chauvin’s goal was a catalyst that would be both stable and selective, able to slice through the strong double-carbon bonds rather than single ones and leave other parts of the molecule intact.Nineteen years later, Schrock produced the first efficient metal catalyst, based on molybdenum.Its disadvantage, though, was that it was sensitive to moisture and oxygen, which shortened the catalyst’s life.Schrock’s catalyst was bettered in 1992 by Grubbs with a ruthenium alternative that is stable in air and moisture and is the basis for many catalytic processes in science and industry today.In addition to smashing the previous limits of making synthetic compounds, the trio are warmly praised for their contributions to environmental health.Improved metathesis means that plastics-making requires fewer steps and can be carried out at lower temperatures and pressure, which in turn entails less energy and wastage of raw materials than before.In many cases, production needs less harmful solvents and results in less hazardous waste – “a great step forward for ‘green chemistry’”, the Nobel citation said.In an unusual step, two men and two women from the Nobel committee took to the floor of the wood-panelled academy hall and danced quietly from partner to partner to give a simple illustration of the trio’s complex work.- Nampa-AFP-Reuters