Credit: Nature Synthesis (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s44160-025-00919-z

Scientists have developed a simple, low-cost method to drive key chemical reactions, which could make large-scale drug manufacturing faster, more accessible and affordable.

The new study, published today in the journal Nature Synthesis by The University of Manchester, describes how complex light or electricity-mediated methods currently used across modern chemistry could be replaced by those driven by a simpler technology—heat.

By heating two common, inexpensive chemicals together, the researchers triggered “electron transfer” reactions that chemists use to make many of our everyday products and medicines.

Lead researcher, Dr. Michael James, Lecturer in Synthetic Organic Chemistry at The University of Manchester, said, “Our goal was to develop a broadly accessible and low-cost way to promote electron transfer reactions for industrial applications.

“By using something as simple as heat—something every chemistry lab already has—we’ve created a process that can be scaled more easily and used by companies without the need for expensive, specialized equipment, opening up new possibilities for chemists all over the world.”

Many modern chemical reactions rely on photochemical (light) or electrochemical (electricity) technologies to kick-start electron transfer reactions—a process that involves transferring electrons between molecules to make medicines, or other essential materials. Although these high-tech methods are powerful and effective, they can be difficult to scale up for industrial use as they require specialist reactors and costly infrastructure.

The Manchester team’s new approach achieves the same result using only heat and two widely available chemicals—a type of azo compound and a formate salt. When heated together in a standard industrial reactor, these reagents naturally form a highly reactive molecule known as “carbon dioxide radical anion”—a simple yet powerful species capable of driving a wide range of chemical transformations.

Working with Dr. James Douglas from AstraZeneca, the research team successfully demonstrated the scalability of the developed method and tested it on a variety of other chemical reactions used in drug discovery.

Dr. Cristina Trujillo, Lecturer in Computational & Theoretical Chemistry at The University of Manchester, added, “Radical chain chemistry underpins so many areas of science and manufacturing, so we hope this simple initiation method will be of wide use across both industry and academia. Beyond large-scale applications, it could also become a valuable tool for researchers studying new chemical reactions.”

More information: Ethan R. X. Lim et al, Reductive radical chain initiation through the thermal generation of carbon dioxide radical anion, Nature Synthesis (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s44160-025-00919-z

Citation: Simply turning up the heat could transform chemical manufacturing (2025, November 6) retrieved 6 November 2025 from https://phys.org/news/2025-11-simply-chemical.html

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