Oceanic bacteria inspire new chemical synthesis at Rice University

Drawing inspiration from the bacteria living in hydrothermal vents, scientists at Rice University developed a new process to produce hydrocarbons, a component used in drug and agrochemical production. 

In the same fashion that light-sensing bacteria in the sea thrive near hot vents on the ocean floor, chemists have incorporated vitamin B12 into their synthetic processes to create the hydrocarbons olefins or alkenes. 

Spearheaded by assistant professor of chemistry at Rice, Julian West and his colleagues have published their findings in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal known as Chemical Science. 

"We've had methods to make olefins for a long time, but a lot of these classic methods — late 19th or early 20th century — use incredibly strong bases, things that would burn you and would definitely burn your molecule if it had anything sensitive on it," West said in a Dec. 8 release posted on Rice University's website. 

Through the use of B12, chemists can produce the same results with far less volatile materials. 

Alongside the vitamin B12, the research team used the B12's cobalt with sodium bicarbonate — baking soda — as a milder alternative to produce the olefins needed under blue light at room temperature, the release reported. 

While the team believes there is a future where this hydrocarbon synthesis method has use at an industrial and widespread scale, they also recognize that the research is not ready quite yet. 

"B12 is a little too complicated for commodity-scale synthesis, but it's great for fine chemicals, and we can buy it from any number of suppliers," West said in the release.

The lead author on the paper was postdoctoral researcher Radha Bam, and co-authors were senior Alexandros Pollatos and graduate student Austin Moser. The research was supported by Rice University as well as the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.