Chemical synthesis and materials discovery

Functional materials impact every area of our lives, from electronic and computing devices to transportation and health. Here we examine the relationship between synthetic discoveries and the scientific breakthroughs that they have enabled. By tracing the development of some important examples, we explore how and why the materials were initially synthesized and how their utility was subsequently recognized. Three common pathways to materials breakthroughs are identified. In a small number of cases, such as the aluminosilicate zeolite catalyst ZSM-5, an important advance is made by using design principles based on earlier work. There are also rare cases of breakthroughs that are serendipitous, such as the buckyball and Teflon. Most commonly, however, the breakthrough repurposes a compound that is already known and was often made out of curiosity or for a different application. Typically, the synthetic discovery precedes the discovery of functionality by many decades; key examples include conducting polymers, topological insulators and electrodes for lithium-ion batteries. The relationship between synthetic discoveries and the materials breakthroughs that they enable is explored in this Perspective. It is concluded that most materials breakthroughs involve chemical compounds that were made out of curiosity or for an entirely different purpose. This conclusion has implications for the role of exploratory synthesis in materials research.