“Carving” molecules out of wood. The synthesis of chemical materials from sustainable resources in an environmentally responsible way is an important grand challenge for a modern chemical infrastructure. In their Communication in Angewandte Chemie, T. Opatz, A.J. Arduengo, et al. tackle the first of four aspects of Xylochemistry. The cover metaphorically depicts the process of creating a natural product, Ilicifoline B, exclusively from wood-based starting materials. (Cover image: Jason W. Runyon).
This
3D rendition of the actual cover art was created using Blender 3D. A dynamic
view of the molecule Ilicifoline-B
itself is
available here.