2014 Press Releases
UCC research will interest Pharma
UCC research published in the peer-reviewed chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie has revealed fresh insight into the role oxygen plays in one of the most important processes used in the pharmaceutical industry.
UCC researcher and lecturer in organic and pharmaceutical chemistry, Dr Gerard McGlacken, who was one of five UCC authors of the study, comments, “One of the most important processes used in the pharmaceutical industry is termed the Suzuki reaction, after its discover Akira Suzuki. At UCC, we have discovered that this transformation can be carried out in high yield, without heating and in environmentally benign solvents. Some of these aspects are known, but we show that oxygen plays a key role in the activity and greatly improves the efficiency of the process by promoting the catalyst.”
Dr McGlacken continued: “Oxygen is often deemed a villain in these processes and hinders their progression, and so an understanding of its exact role is important. We hope that this discovery will help the pharmaceutical industry to improve their processes. Applicable research such as this will create a hub of expertise in UCC and help Cork pharmaceutical companies to bid for highly valuable processes on the international stage. This is crucial to maintaining Irish jobs.”
Angewandte Chemie is published weekly and has a relatively high Journal Impact Factor of 13.734 (2012).