What to watch for in 2022

Abstract

MOLECULAR EDITING What to watch for in 2022Experts predict next year’s big chemistry research trends ShareShare onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InRedditEmail C&EN, 2021, 99 (45), pp 46–47December 20, 2021Cite this:C&EN 99, 45, 46-47(Credit: C&EN/Shutterstock)Figure1of7Javier García Martínez (Credit: Rive Technology)Figure1of7Vernon Morris (Credit: Jamie Cepernich, Barry Evans Studio, Pinole, CA)Figure2of7Laura-Isobel McCall (Credit: University of Oklahoma)Figure3of7Eugene Y.-X. Chen (Credit: Colorado State University)Figure4of7Corinna Schindler (Credit: Courtesy of Corinna Schindler)Figure5of7Diego Solis-Ibarra (Credit: Courtesy of Diego Solis-Ibarra)Figure6of7Javier García Martínez, president-elect, International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry“Among all the exciting new trends in catalysis, I would like to mention the photocatalytic conversion of CO2 into useful chemicals. In the last few years, we have seen not only significant improvements in overall CO2 conversion yields, but also in selectivity towards increasingly complex and useful molecules with multiple carbon atoms and a variety of functional groups. Based on the impressive advances in this field over the past few years, I am convinced that during 2022, we will see some significant breakthroughs in terms of what we can do with CO2 using only sunlight to drive its conversion into useful chemicals.”Note: García Martínez is a member of C&EN’s advisory board.Vernon Morris, atmospheric chemist, Arizona State University“The highly publicized social unrest in 2021 inspired calls to the STEM [science, technology, engineering, and mathematics] community to redress the institutionalized systems, mechanisms, and attitudes of exclusion that assure racially biased outcomes in science and technology. Equity-minded scientists will continue to challenge our community to move beyond the status-quo perceptions of who gets to become a scientist and who gets recognition as a producer of knowledge. But if past is precedent, look for heightened backlash against these efforts. Meanwhile, inclusive, interdisciplinary scientific teams will catalyze the development of robust, equity-centered solutions to complex challenges associated with air pollution (particularly in megacities) and environmental justice.”Laura-Isobel McCall, analytical chemist, University of Oklahoma“Now that several new methods have expanded our ability to annotate metabolite features, I am hopeful that scientists beyond the groups that developed these methods will begin to implement them. I will be watching for new biological insights generated from analytical chemistry and computational structure prediction tools. A key step will be increasing confidence in the output of in silico tools, especially with regards to rankings of predicted structures. I also think that we’re all hungry to reclaim the sense of community that was lost during the pandemic. This may lead to a growth in collaborative research projects, with new perspectives on the ‘tough questions.’ ”Eugene Y.-X. Chen, polymer chemist, Colorado State University“The plastics problem is not just about the plastic pollution crisis that everyone witnesses but also about energy and climate change, as plastics manufacturing is predicted to account for 20% of global petroleum consumption and 15% of the carbon budget by 2050. Furthermore, while this is a global problem, R&D activities are not yet globally connected. In 2022, with researchers hoping to travel more freely, we will see a burst of cross-disciplinary, collaborative activities not only in publications but also in international summits and conferences towards our common goal of creating innovative and sustainable solutions to meet this urgent challenge of our time.”Corinna Schindler, synthetic organic chemist, University of Michigan“In organic chemistry, I expect that we will see the trend of skeletal or molecular editing continue to grow. Mark Levin’s young research group at the University of Chicago created a lot of interest earlier this year with their work on skeletal editing through nitrogen deletion. They developed a creative and unexpected approach that got many chemists in the field fascinated. The question is very captivating—can you take a complex molecule and turn it into a very different one (that would take many steps to make) by one simple synthetic transformation? I anticipate that chemists will build on these results to quickly get their hands on new, complex molecules that will have important biological functions.”Diego Solis-Ibarra, materials chemist, National Autonomous University of Mexico “After a little over a decade of excitement and development, 2022 is likely to be the year in which perovskite photovoltaics will finally see the light at a commercial stage. This milestone will surely bring a lot of knowledge, questions, and challenges to the field. Simultaneously, perovskites and perovskite-inspired materials will further venture into new territories beyond solar cells and light-emitting diodes. Frontier applications, such as spintronics, detectors, transistors, and catalysts, are some of the exciting avenues that the field will undoubtedly be exploring.”Learn more in C&EN’s 2022 predictions webinar at cenm.ag/2022predictions.