Team wins global race to achieve landmark synthesis of perplexing natural product
Tuesday, January 12, 2010 - 14:35
in Biology & Nature
In 1993 researchers discovered a chemical compound in a sponge off Palau, an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, that has shown anticancer, antibacterial, and antifungal pharmaceutical promise. This compound, called Palau'amine, is so chemically complex that finding a way to produce it in the laboratory became the most hotly pursued synthetic chemistry goal in modern history. Groups around the globe dedicated millions to the challenge, and now one team of scientists has finally completed the quest.