New synthesis methods for pharmaceuticals and electronics
When boron binds to organic molecules they can acquire new, unique properties. Four research teams are combining their expertise to improve synthesis of a particularly interesting type of these molecules, which are vital building blocks for pharmaceuticals and advanced electronics.
Foto: Åsa Wallin/KAW
“We are working with boron compounds. It’s challenging but very exciting,” says Kálmán J. Szabó, professor of organic chemistry at Stockholm University, as he approaches a fume hood in which rows of test tubes containing a pale yellow liquid are lined up.
Szabó heads a project funded by Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, with the aim of improving synthesis of boron containing compounds.
Boron is a metalloid. It is not found naturally in organic, i.e. carbon-based, molecules, but can be incorporated into them. Compounds with a carbon-boron bond acquire new, interesting chemical properties. Molecules with at least one such bond are called organoboranes.
“Organoboranes are important building blocks in the synthesis of other organic molecules, since they react easily and with a high degree of selectivity. They are also useful as pharmaceuticals and in new materials.”
The main interest of the Szabó group is development of selective synthesis using transition-metal catalysis and organocatalysis targeting mainly fluorine and boron containing organic molecules.
