Science is incredible. Always, but now, a team of chemists from the University of California in Riverside has stabilized an extremely reactive molecule (known as a carbene) in water! Something that seemed impossible but they finally managed to do it!
The best part is that this confirms an old theory about vitamin B1, proposed by the prestigious chemist Ronald Breslow in 1958. Why is it so important? Because this discovery could change how medicines are made!
What was believed?
For more than 60 years, the idea that vitamin B1 could form a carbene during its biological functions was considered very absurd. The problem was that carbenes don’t last at all in water, and since our body is mostly made of water, testing it seemed like mission impossible. But the team led by Vincent Lavallo has shown that not only is it possible… it works.
What exactly is a carbene and why does it matter?
A carbene is a rare molecule. It has a carbon atom with only six valence electrons, when normally it would have eight. That “lack” makes it unstable, like a loose electron about to jump. As soon as it comes into contact with water, goodbye. It falls apart.
But more than 60 years ago, the chemist Ronald Breslow proposed a bold idea: that vitamin B1 (the regular thiamine) used a carbene to do part of its work inside the body. Since our body is basically water, no one knew how to test it. Until now.
How did they protect the carbene and keep it alive?
Very simple: they dressed it. Literally. Professor Vincent Lavallo’s team created what they call a “molecular armor”, a kind of chemical suit that protected the carbene from the water surrounding it. It wasn’t magic: it was pure chemical engineering!!
Thanks to that protective bubble, the carbene not only survived… it stayed stable for months. They analyzed it, bottled it, and studied it with all kinds of tools like nuclear magnetic resonance or X-rays.
They came looking for copper…
But they found gold! They weren’t trying to confirm Breslow’s theory, they were just experimenting with other things! Without meaning to, they stumbled upon a result that fit perfectly with this theory forgotten more than 60 years ago, they solved a mystery without knowing they were in the middle of it!
And what is this good for?
Very good question! It could just be an anecdote of having confirmed something from the past, but no! Carbenes are used as key pieces to make medicines, plastics and fuels, but until now they required expensive solvents (and very polluting ones…)
But now reactions can be done in water, it’s not expensive, it’s not toxic and it’s everywhere (or almost everywhere). So we’d be talking about processes that are more sustainable and with much less environmental impact!
And what if this marks a turning point?
That’s what they’re already thinking about. If this technique is applied on a large scale, it could revolutionize the chemical industry. Imagine producing drugs without tons of hazardous waste. Or making materials without using aggressive chemicals!
Understanding how life works
With this breakthrough, scientists could study other molecules just as fleeting as carbenes, molecules that until now were only guessed but had never been seen.
As Lavallo himself said, we may be on the edge of a new stage in biological chemistry. One where we no longer have to imagine what happens between molecule and molecule: we’re going to be able to see it!!
Science, as you can see, always teaches us lessons. A theory that seemed ridiculous in the 1950s has been confirmed more than 60 years later, and by accident! Doesn’t that seem exciting?