Abstract
Chemistry goes beyond simply observing and understanding nature. Through chemical synthesis, and using natural resources such as oil, coal and biomass, we can create valuable, unnatural organic molecules. Made up of a finite number of atoms linked together according to a fixed set of rules, and endowed with precise three-dimensional structures, these molecules have potentially important properties. Through their presence in numerous products such as perfumes and cosmetics, high-tech materials, textiles, nutritional products, pesticides and, above all, medicines, they have greatly contributed to the improvement of our living conditions.
Chemical synthesis, the science of building molecules, involves transforming starting molecules to create new, more elaborate ones. It is also clearly an art, by virtue of its creative nature. Physically, it requires the formation of new bonds between atoms through an activation process that may be thermal, photochemical, mechanical or catalytic.
After more than a century of constant innovation and industrial development, contemporary considerations of energy transition and resource sustainability are redirecting research into molecular synthesis, and in particular activation processes, to ensure the production of molecules with optimized properties for a growing world population, while respecting the environment. The lesson will cover the history of the field, examples of major research themes and our own contributions.
