News and highlights

Studies in selective microbial deuteration for chiral molecules

Combining synthetic organic chemistry and microbes to perform enzymatic transformations allowed the enantioselective synthesis of important chiral molecules.

2025 NDF Product Catalogue released

The National Deuteration Facility (NDF) has released their 2025 Product Catalogue, now containing almost 300 unique deuterated molecules.

Manipulating a Thermosalient Crystal Using Selective Deuteration

Dr Alexander Angeloski of the National Deuteration Facility led a study published in JACS that demonstrated deuteration can manipulate the properties of a crystal that converts heat into mechanical motion.

New flow chemistry capability to enhance NDF production capacity

The National Deuteration Facility has recently acquired a Vapourtec flow reactor integrates real-time monitoring, streamlined processing, and flexible productivity, thereby advancing the field of flow-based deuteration. These capabilities not only facilitate the adaptation of established batch processes to continuous flow for multigram-scale synthesis but also encourage the exploration of novel deuteration methodologies. This work is supported by NCRIS Uplift funding received in 2023 Phase 2 funding for expansion of existing capabilities and development of new capabilities.

Enhancing the oxidative stability of squalene

The National Deuteration Facility has demonstrated the potential of deuteration for stabilisation of industrially relevant materials. An important proof of concept study showcases how the substitution of hydrogen atoms with the stable isotope deuterium can stabilise key cosmetic and medicinal product components.

Voucher scheme for accelerating biomedical research

To encourage access to a diverse range of NCRIS supported Australian translational medical research capabilities, Therapeutic Innovation Australia (TIA) has developed the Pipeline Accelerator, a competitive voucher-style scheme that can subsidise the cost of access to a full range of advanced capabilities. In the Pipeline Accelerator 2024-2025 Round 2, TIA is partnering with Phenomics Australia, Bioplatforms Australia and ANSTO’s National Deuteration Facility (NDF) to expand the list of translation expertise necessary for the discovery and translation of medical research.

DGet! An open source deuteration calculator for mass spectrometry data

Alexander Angeloski from the National Deuteration Facility and Thomas Lockwood from the University of Technology Sydney have developed a new software tool to enable the routine determination of deuterium content in deuterated molecules using mass spectrometry data.

DGet! is the first readily available application to determine the deuterium content of small molecules using mass spectra. DGet! is freely available at https://dget.app.

Major study identifies a potential drug target for lowering cholesterol

ANSTO has contributed to a major study identifying a potential drug target for lowering blood cholesterol that has been published in the prestigious journal Science.

The international study was enabled by two of Australia’s national research infrastructure facilities, the National Deuteration Facility and Microscopy Australia, both funded by NCRIS.

Brothers produce excellent scientific results with improvements to silicon

In a rare collaboration, two scientists, who are brothers working in unrelated disciplines, combined complementary expertise to tackle a chemical problem relating to the use of silicon in electronic devices.

Leader of the National Deuteration Facility, Dr Tamim Darwish, suggested to his brother, Dr Nadim Darwish, a Senior Lecturer with expertise in molecular electronics at Curtin University, that deuterating silicon might improve its properties.

This facility at ANSTO is a world leader in deuteration for research applications, and they specialise in providing bespoke deuterated molecules and labelling techniques.