The synthesis of biologically active
molecules for pharmaceuticals, agri-chemistry, and a host of other
industries relies on synthetic organic chemistry: the ability to
create complex molecules that are held together by bonds between
carbon atoms, between carbon and nitrogen atoms, or between carbon and
oxygen atoms. The top 20 list of papers in Aryl Halide Chemistry
report on new methods and catalysts that facilitate the formation of
these bonds without the production of undesirable side products. These
methods take the complex path of reactions necessary to form a desired
molecule and either make these reactions proceed faster, cheaper, at
lower temperatures—necessary, for instance, for the relatively
fragile molecules of pharmaceuticals—or with less toxic materials.
The top 20 list is dominated by reports of new efficient catalysts—the
hottest paper in the field, for instance, by Hermann et al, describes
catalysts known as palladacycles that allow for bond formation with
low levels of palladium. The older papers in the top 20 describe the
three now-proven methods for the formation of the bonds themselves,
while the newer papers describe catalysts and techniques that
facilitate the reactions using those methods.
Methodology
To construct this database,
papers were extracted based on topic-supplied
keywords for Aryl Halide
Chemistry. The keywords used were as follows:
- aryl* halide*
- or -
- aryl* chloride*
The baseline time span for this database
is 1993-2003 (first bimonthly). The resulting database contained
1,813 papers; 3,880 authors; 56 countries; 194 journals; and 856 institutions.
Rankings
Once the database was in place,
it was used to generate the lists of top 20 papers, authors, journals,
institutions, and nations, covering a time span of 1993-2003 (first bimonthly).
The top 20 papers are ranked according to total cites. Rankings for author, journal, institution, and country are listed in three ways: according to total cites, total papers, and total cites/paper. The paper thresholds used to determine scientist, institution, country, and journal rankings according to total cites/paper were as follows:
13, 15, 10, and 15 respectively.
