Tool could reduce bias in testing new reactions

A paper that describes a new reaction will almost always include a table of compounds that researchers tested their protocol on. But a chemist's choice of substrates can introduce bias into their study. The chemist might avoid testing a potentially useful substrate because it's expensive or might reach for a substrate lying around their lab rather than order something new. Plus, synthesis papers don't typically report substrates that researchers test but don't work, which can provide valuable information about a protocol. Frank Glorius and his group at the University of Münster are among the researchers who have been thinking about ways to improve substrate selection . The group is now releasing a web tool to help chemists pick substrates ( ACS Cent. Sci. 2024, DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.3c01638 ). The researchers think the tool could enable more meaningful comparisons between different reaction protocols. The researchers' first step in the process was to