Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 9 July 1999:
Vol. 285. no. 5425, pp. 184 - 187
DOI: 10.1126/science.285.5425.184
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

News Focus

CHEMISTRY:
Race for Molecular Summits

Robert F. Service

In the branch of chemistry called total synthesis, glory goes to the first team to reproduce a complex molecule from simple ingredients. But some in the field argue that the chemical synthesis race is intensifying while the number of targets is shrinking, because of a slowdown in searches for promising new natural products (see sidebar). As a result, more and more synthesis groups are racing after fewer inviting targets. To stay ahead, some researchers rely on safe, well-established reactions, and so make fewer fundamental discoveries along the way.

Read the Full Text

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)