Ben Feringa’s group has developed a simple, green method for attaching unprotected alcohols to amino acids, with only water as a by-product. All the possibilities are described in Chemistry A European Journal.

The Groningen researchers and their American and Chinese colleagues follow the principles of green chemistry, focusing on atom economy, low waste and the environmental factor (mass of waste divided by mass of product). They are combining these principles with known reactions: creating surfactants based on amino acids and creating C-N bonds by ‘borrowing’ hydrogen. This allows them to attach unprotected alcohols to amino acids in a single step.