In a feat that would be alchemy if it weren’t clever chemistry, scientists have developed a simple technique to switch an oil-like solvent into a waterlike one. The approach provides chemists a way to use the same solvent system for a diversity of reactions that otherwise would require many different and often environmentally troublesome solvents. This advance could help the chemical industry become greener and save money at the same time, the technique’s inventors say.
In the Aug. 25 Nature, Philip G. Jessop, a chemist at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and his colleagues describe their switchable solvent—a mixture of an alcohol and an amine base. The mixture starts out as a nonpolar liquid, so it can dissolve compounds that have an affinity for oil.