However, a group of UCLA scientists, including graduate students, postdoctoral scholars and professors, have published research within the journal Science to disprove this after having created several ABOs. Co-author Professor Neil Garg told UCLA’s Newsroom, “It destroys creativity when we have rules that supposedly can’t be overcome.” He commented further on the value of 3D molecules for the future of pharmaceutical research, and said that rules like this one should exist with the reminder that they are just guidelines. Authors of the promising research include Luca McDermott, Allison Clark, Jiaming Ding, Sarah French, Andrew Kelleghan, Zachary Walters, Professor Neil Garg and Professor Ken Houk.
Orbitals are areas around the nucleus of an atom where an electron is likely to be found. In small bicyclic rings, it is hard to make the orbitals overlap, but double bonds can be formed on larger molecules; this is thought to make them too unstable for use, however. So how did they make it work? First, the researchers treated silyl halides with fluoride in an elimination reaction to create an ABO. However, this was too unstable on its own, so they added a third chemical to “trap” the ABO, meaning it could yield a product which could then be isolated for use. This finding has caused a century of “conventional wisdom” to be reconsidered, according to Garg, and has created new and exciting opportunities for the future of medicine.
Image credits: UCLA Chemistry & Biochemistry
