Innovate and React

This episode of Innovate and React explores the fascinating history of natural product research and its pivotal role in developing life-saving cancer treatments. The journey begins in the 1950s and 60s with the National Cancer Institute's efforts to screen thousands of plant extracts for biological activity. Through the stories of landmark compounds like camptothecin and Taxol, Kevin illustrates the complex collaboration required between botanists and chemists to isolate active ingredients from nature and transform them into viable medical therapies. The episode delves into the origins of Taxol, originally discovered in the bark of the Pacific Yew tree. You will learn about the significant hurdles researchers faced. From the tedious workup to supply chain restrictions caused by harvesting bark from slow-growing trees. Find out how chemists made Taxol a marketable drug and overcame these problems.

In this episode we discuss a novel and sustainable approach to converting methane into valuable chemicals. Currently light hydrocarbons like methane are often simply burned for energy, despite their potential as a carbon source for the chemical industry. Traditional conversion methods like natural gas cracking are energy-intensive, and other functionalization routes require harsh conditions and often toxic chemicals. Dr. Andrés Constantino sharess his research focusing on photocatalysis to achieve the direct functionalization of methane under milder conditions. The key to this method is a supramolecular catalytic system using FeCl3•6H2O and collidine. When irradiated, the catalyst generates a highly active chlorine radical that efficiently abstracts hydrogen from the inert alkane (methane) to form an alkyl radical. The collidine plays a crucial dual role, acting as a base to quench the resulting HCl and as a ligand that stabilizes the iron tetrachloride core. The radicals were used for allylation chemistry, which retains a useful olefin group in the product.

In this episode we discuss sustainable chemistry and the replacement of critical materials like platinum group elements with guest Dr. Soumyadeep Chakrabortty from the Max-Planck-Institute for Kohlenforschung. We delve into the importance of sustainability in chemical reactions, the role of catalysis, and the development of more benign and cost-effective catalysts. Soumyadeep shares his experiences with asymmetric hydrogenation and the creation of a new ligands for pharmaceutical applications. The conversation also touches on collaboration between academia and industry and the impact of high-throughput screening and AI on future catalysis research.

In this episode of Innovate and React, I delve into the groundbreaking discovery of the Haber-Bosch process, which revolutionized agriculture and the chemical industry by synthesizing ammonia from atmospheric nitrogen and hydrogen. Starting with a historical perspective from the 19th, the episode explores the pivotal contributions of Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch to the invention of the Haber-Bosch process. It covers the scientific challenges, innovations, and controversies surrounding Haber’s research, and how Bosch made the reaction viable for industrial scale. The episode also discusses the modern impact and future applications of ammonia in renewable energy systems.