Protecting chemical innovations

The success of a chemical project may be the result of many years of hard work and considerable expense. After spending so much time and money on a project, the chemists involved will be proud and protective of their work, especially if the project has indentified a chemical product with highly desirable properties. An important consideration is whether they can commercialise their work without anyone else taking advantage of it. So, how is this done?

This is just the question asked by Oren Scherman and his researchers at the University of Cambridge. Oren and his group have been studying a group of compounds known as cucurbiturils. Oren and Urs Rauwald, his PhD student, recognised the attractiveness of the cucurbituril chemistry because the products they can form have incredibly interesting physical and chemical properties.