List of unsolved problems in chemistry

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This is a list of unsolved problems in chemistry. Problems in chemistry are considered unsolved when an expert in the field considers it unsolved or when several experts in the field disagree about a solution to a problem.

Physical chemistry problems

Can the transition temperature of high-temperature superconductors be brought up to room temperature?
How do the spin–orbit coupling, other relativistic corrections, and inter-electron effects modify the chemistry of the trans-actinides?{{cite web |url=http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/Issues/2010/November/ColumnThecrucible.asp |title=Would element 137 really spell the end of the periodic table? Philip Ball examines the evidence|author=Philip Ball |date=November 2010 |website=Chemistry World|publisher=Royal Society of Chemistry}}{{cite book |editor1-first=Lester R. |editor1-last=Morss |editor2-first=Norman M. |editor2-last=Edelstein |editor3-first=Jean |editor3-last=Fuger |title=The Chemistry of the Actinide and Transactinide Elements |edition=3rd |year=2006 |publisher=Springer |location=Dordrecht, The Netherlands |isbn=978-1-4020-3555-5}}
Is it possible to create a practically-useful lithium–air battery?{{Cite journal |last1= Christensen |first1= J. |last2= Albertus |first2= P. |last3= Sanchez-Carrera |first3= R. S. |last4= Lohmann |first4= T. |last5= Kozinsky |first5= B. |last6= Liedtke |first6= R. |last7= Ahmed |first7= J. |last8= Kojic |first8= A. |doi= 10.1149/2.086202jes |title= A Critical Review of Li–Air Batteries |journal= Journal of the Electrochemical Society |volume= 159 |issue= 2 |pages= R1 |year= 2012 |doi-access= free }}

Organic chemistry problems

What is the origin of homochirality in biomolecules?{{cite journal |title=So much more to know |journal=Science |volume=309 |issue=5731 |pages=78–102 |date=July 2005 |pmid=15994524 |doi=10.1126/science.309.5731.78b |doi-access=free }}
Why are accelerated kinetics observed for some organic reactions at the water-organic interface?{{Cite journal | doi=10.1002/anie.200462883| pmid=15844112| title="On Water": Unique Reactivity of Organic Compounds in Aqueous Suspension| year=2005| last1=Narayan| first1=Sridhar| last2=Muldoon| first2=John| last3=Finn| first3=M. G.| last4=Fokin| first4=Valery V.| last5=Kolb| first5=Hartmuth C.| last6=Sharpless| first6=K. Barry| journal=Angewandte Chemie International Edition| volume=44| issue=21| pages=3275–3279| doi-access=free}}{{primary source inline|date=December 2014}}
Do replacement reactions of aryl diazonium salts (dediazotizations) predominantly undergo S_N1 or a radical mechanism?{{cite journal |author=Ussing R, Singleton A |title=Isotope effects, dynamics, and the mechanism of solvolysis of aryldiazonium cations in water |journal=Journal of the American Chemical Society |volume=127 |issue=9 |pages=2888–2889 |date=February 2005 |doi= 10.1021/ja043918p|pmid=15740124 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2005JAChS.127.2888U }}
Can an electrochemical cell reliably perform organic redox reactions?{{Cite web |last=Lowe |first=Derek |author-link=Derek Lowe (chemist) |date=24 Aug 2017 |title=Electrochemistry For All |url=https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/electrochemistry-all |access-date=23 August 2023 |website=In the Pipeline |publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science}}
Which "classic organic chemistry" reactions admit chiral catalysts?
Is it possible to construct a quaternary carbon atom with arbitrary (distinguishable) substituents and stereochemistry?
Can artificial enzymes replace the need for protecting groups when modifying sensitive compounds?{{Cite news |last=Miles |first=Ned Carter |date=2023-08-05 |title='Endless possibilities': the chemists changing molecules atom by atom |language=en-GB |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/aug/05/skeletal-editing-chemistry-molecule-atom-medicine-drug-development-sustainable |access-date=2023-08-24 |issn=0029-7712}}

Inorganic chemistry problems

Are there any molecules that certainly contain a phi bond?
Is there a less labor- or energy-intensive technique for titanium refinement than the Kroll process?{{Cite web |last=Potter |first=Brian |title=The Story of Titanium |url=https://www.construction-physics.com/p/the-story-of-titanium |access-date=2023-08-24 |website=Construction Physics |language=en |quote=In the 1950s, it was hoped/assumed that a better process for producing titanium sponge would come along to replace the Kroll process, which is a laborious and energy-intensive batch process that must be done in an inert atmosphere. But such a process has never materialized...likewise, turning titanium sponge into metal is an energy and capital-intensive process [that] has also changed little since the 1950s.}}
Does nitrogen admit metastable allotropes under standard conditions?{{cite book |title=Modeling Marvels: Computational Anticipation of Novel molecules |last=Lewars |first=Errol G. |year=2008 |publisher=Springer Science+Business Media |isbn=978-1-4020-6972-7 |doi=10.1007/978-1-4020-6973-4 |pages=141–63 }}
Can new solvents or other techniques make direct carbon capture economical?{{cite journal|last1=Sanz-Pérez|first1=Eloy S.|last2=Murdock|first2=Christopher R.|last3=Didas|first3=Stephanie A.|last4=Jones|first4=Christopher W.|date=12 October 2016|title=Direct Capture of carbon dioxide from Ambient Air|journal=Chemical Reviews|volume=116|issue=19|pages=11840–11876|doi=10.1021/acs.chemrev.6b00173|pmid=27560307|doi-access=free}}
Can artificial photosynthesis make any common fuels?{{cite journal|last=Styring|first=Stenbjörn|title=Artificial photosynthesis for solar fuels|journal=Faraday Discussions|volume=155|date=21 December 2011|issue=Advance Article|pages=357–376

|doi=10.1039/C1FD00113B|pmid=22470985|bibcode = 2012FaDi..155..357S|url=https://zenodo.org/record/3426629}}

What is a reliable synthesis and stabilization method for catenary allotropes of sulfur and carbon?

Biochemistry problems

Enzyme kinetics: Why do some enzymes exhibit faster-than-diffusion kinetics?{{cite journal |author=Hsieh M, Brenowitz M |title=Comparison of the DNA association kinetics of the Lac repressor tetramer, its dimeric mutant LacIadi, and the native dimeric Gal repressor |journal=J. Biol. Chem. |volume=272 |issue=35 |pages=22092–6 |date=August 1997 |pmid=9268351 |doi= 10.1074/jbc.272.35.22092|doi-access=free }}
Protein folding problem: Is it possible to predict the secondary, tertiary and quaternary structure of a polypeptide sequence based solely on the sequence and environmental information? Inverse protein-folding problem: Is it possible to design a polypeptide sequence which will adopt a given structure under certain environmental conditions?{{Cite web |last1=King |first1=Jonathan |title=MIT OpenCourseWare - 7.88J / 5.48J / 7.24J / 10.543J Protein Folding Problem, Fall 2007 Lecture Notes - 1 |date=2007 |url=http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/biology/7-88j-protein-folding-problem-fall-2007/index.htm |work=MIT OpenCourseWare |access-date=June 22, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928021907/http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/biology/7-88j-protein-folding-problem-fall-2007/index.htm |archive-date=September 28, 2013 }} This has been achieved for several small globular proteins in recent years.{{cite journal |author=Dill KA |title=The Protein Folding Problem |journal=Annu Rev Biophys |volume=37 |pages=289–316 |date=June 2008 |pmid=18573083 |doi= 10.1146/annurev.biophys.37.092707.153558 |pmc=2443096|display-authors=etal}} In 2020, it was announced that Google's AlphaFold, a neural network based on DeepMind artificial intelligence, is capable of predicting a protein's final shape based solely on its amino-acid chain with an accuracy of around 90% on a test sample of proteins used by the team.{{Cite journal|last=Callaway|first=Ewen|date=2020-11-30|title='It will change everything': DeepMind's AI makes gigantic leap in solving protein structures|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03348-4|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=588|issue=7837|pages=203–204|doi=10.1038/d41586-020-03348-4|pmid=33257889 |bibcode=2020Natur.588..203C |s2cid=227243204 }}
RNA folding problem: Is it possible to accurately predict the secondary, tertiary and quaternary structure of a polyribonucleic acid sequence based on its sequence and environment?
Protein design: Is it possible to design highly active enzymes de novo for any desired reaction?{{cite web|url=http://depts.washington.edu/bakerpg/drupal/node/465 |title=Principles for designing ideal protein structures. | the Baker Laboratory |access-date=2012-12-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130401070449/http://depts.washington.edu/bakerpg/drupal/node/465 |archive-date=2013-04-01 }}
Biosynthesis: Can desired molecules, natural products or otherwise, be produced in high yield through biosynthetic pathway manipulation?{{Cite journal | doi=10.1038/nature11478| pmid=22895337| title=Microbial engineering for the production of advanced biofuels| journal=Nature| volume=488| issue=7411| pages=320–328| year=2012| last1=Peralta-Yahya| first1=Pamela P.| last2=Zhang| first2=Fuzhong| last3=Del Cardayre| first3=Stephen B.| last4=Keasling| first4=Jay D.| bibcode=2012Natur.488..320P| s2cid=4423203}}

References

External links

{{cite journal |title=First 25 of 125 big questions that face scientific inquiry over the next quarter-century |journal=Science |volume=309 |issue=125th Anniversary |date=1 July 2005 |url=http://www.sciencemag.org/sciext/125th/}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20060901202428/http://www.chbmeng.ohio-state.edu/centennial/tirrell.pdf Unsolved Problems in Nanotechnology: Chemical Processing by Self-Assembly - Matthew Tirrell] - Departments of Chemical Engineering and Materials, Materials Research Laboratory, California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara [No doc at link, 20 Aug 2016]

Unsolved problems

chemistry

Category:Scientific problems