Chemistry
Strategies for the Regioselective Functionalization of Arenes
Quick fact
The word 'regioselective' was coined to describe reactions that prefer one location over others when multiple possibilities exist—and in arenes, the difference between 1,2-, 1,3-, and 1,4-substitution can change a molecule's entire properties.
Why this is interesting
We all know benzene is a flat, symmetrical ring, so how do chemists add a new group to one specific carbon rather than any of the others? The trick lies in the subtle electronic differences that atoms on the ring create.