A team of scientists, from the University of Bath's Department of Chemistry and Institute for Sustainability have found a way to create two of the world's most common painkillers, paracetamol and ibuprofen, out of a compound found in pine trees, one which is also a waste product from the paper industry.
This is super cool! And they were able to make another major chemical precursor too. I see the yield for ibuprofen is only 64% but I have to assume that’s there room to optimize that reaction scheme to generate higher yields!
I would love to see the full synthesis process as well as reaction conditions, but like everyone else who leaves academia I lost access to journals after finishing my grad program.
https://chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/cssc.202300670
Thank you!!