The group of Professor Osamu Kobayashi of the University of Tokyo and others found that higher catalytic activity can be obtained by intentionally making the catalyst and raw materials insoluble rather than dissolving them.
In the conventional synthesis using an asymmetric catalyst, the reaction was carried out by dissolving the substance used as the material and the catalyst in an organic solvent.This will cause the catalyst and material to stick together once.Then, with the help of the catalyst, it changes to the target substance.At this time, the catalyst and the material dissolve in the solvent and move around, making it easier for them to meet.However, in this research, water was used instead of the solvent, and the reaction became possible with high efficiency without dissolving the catalyst.
It is a discovery that conventional wisdom overturns the fact that insoluble things react efficiently with each other.It is a fact that has just been discovered and it is not known why it will happen, but in addition to the possibility that it can be applied to many reactions used in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, it also makes substances that could not be synthesized until now. It is hoped that you may be able to do that.