New catalytic strategies boost alkene synthesis

Two new catalytic methods offer ways to tackle longstanding challenges in alkene synthesis. Alkenes are essential chemical building blocks used in the manufacture of everyday items such as plastics and rubber, as well as more complex molecules like pharmaceutical ingredients. One of the new methods improves the efficiency of making long-chain alkenes via the Fischer–Tropsch process, while the other provides a general way to make complex alkenes from carboxylic acid, alcohol or alkane starting materials.