2017.02.27

Creating ethers from esters? New method for developing anticancer drugs and antimalarial medications

Associate professor Junichiro Yamaguchi from Department of Applied Chemistry and his collaborators developed a catalytic decarbonlyative etherification of aromatic esters using a nickel or palladium catalyst with their enabling diphosphine ligand to give the corresponding diaryl ethers. In other words, they succeeded in developing the world’s first catalyst for removing carbon from esters, acid-derived chemical compounds where one or more OH group is replaced by an O-alkyl group, to create ethers, organic compounds with an oxygen atom attached to alkyl or aryl groups. This is the first of its kind in the world and provides a new method for pharmaceutical research in developing anti-cancer drugs and antimalarial medications. ＜MORE＞