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The toxic solvents of organic chemistry could become a thing of the past. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory have successfully used a mechanical process, previously employed in metallic and inorganic chemistry, to synthesize new organic compounds. The solid raw materials are placed in a vial along with a number of steel balls and are shaken vigorously. The agitation, done at room temperature 25 times a second, breaks down the materials' crystal lattices just as well as solvents do. The amorphous substances can then serve as the building blocks for polymers and pharmaceuticals. Moreover, for some processes, ball milling permits all the components to be added together in a single, efficient step rather than one by one in a series of chemical reactions. Further details are in the June Journal of the American Chemical Society. --Zeeya Merali

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