Simple catalyst helps to construct complex biological scaffolds
Wednesday, February 18, 2015 - 11:01
in Physics & Chemistry
Terpenes and their derivatives exert important biological and pharmaceutical functions. Starting out from a few basic building blocks nature elegantly builds up complex structures. Chemically particularly challenging are bridged ring systems such as eucalyptol. Chemists at the Technische Universität München (TUM) have now developed a catalyst that initiates the formation of such compounds. A special feature of the catalyst: it self-assembles from smaller units.