ChemSci Pick of the Week

The first example of an insertion of carbon monoxide into a bismuth-nitrogen bond could pave the way to using heavy p-block metals in place of transition metals in chemical synthesis.

Some of the transition metals commonly used in chemical synthesis are increasingly rare, and often toxic to the environment. Dr Crispin Lichtenberg and his team at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg in Germany are concerned.

"For some time, it was believed that certain chemical reactions can only or should preferentially be carried out by using transition metals or even precious metals", explains Dr Lichtenberg. "In order to use the elements that are available to us on planet earth in an efficient and responsible fashion, we need to get fundamental insights into their reactivity."