dailyloe.com – Chemists have achieved a breakthrough by stabilizing an extremely reactive molecule in water. This confirms a 67-year-old theory about vitamin B1. The discovery resolves a long-standing biochemical puzzle. It also points toward cleaner pharmaceutical production methods.
At the center of the discovery is a carbene. This is a form of carbon with just six valence electrons. Under normal conditions, carbon atoms are most stable with eight electrons. With only six, carbenes are highly unstable and react almost instantly.
In water, carbenes typically break down right away. For decades, scientists believed vitamin B1 might briefly form a carbene-like structure inside cells. This would help drive essential biochemical reactions. However, its extreme instability prevented direct observation.
Researchers have now succeeded in creating a carbene stable in water. They generated it, isolated it, and sealed it in a tube. They observed it staying intact for months. The findings are detailed in a study published in Science Advances.
“This is the first time anyone has been able to observe a stable carbene in water,” said Vincent Lavallo. Lavallo is a professor of chemistry at UC Riverside and the paper’s corresponding author. “People thought this was a crazy idea. But it turns out, Breslow was right.”
Lavallo is referring to Ronald Breslow, a Columbia University chemist. Breslow proposed in 1958 that vitamin B1 could transform into a carbene. This would enable key biochemical reactions. The idea was influential but remained unproven.
Carbenes were known to be too unstable to capture or study. This was especially true in water. To overcome this, Lavallo’s team developed a protective molecular structure. It surrounds the carbene like a suit of armor.
This shield protects the reactive center from water and other molecules. With this protection, the carbene becomes stable enough for detailed analysis. Researchers used nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and x-ray crystallography. This offers clear evidence such molecules can exist in water.
“We were making these reactive molecules to explore their chemistry,” said first author Varun Raviprolu. Raviprolu completed the research as a graduate student at UCR. He is now a postdoctoral researcher at UCLA. “But it turns out our work ended up proving this historical theory.”[]
Source: ScienceDaily
