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Dr List and Dr MacMillan found a way to have the best of both worlds: small-molecule catalysts that have no metal atoms in them, can turn out pure enantiomers, and often simplify multi-step reactions. That has significant industrial implications.
利斯特博士和麦克米伦博士找到了一种两全其美的方法：不含金属原子的小分子催化剂，可以生成纯净的对映体，而且通常会简化多步反应。这具有重大的工业意义。
Dr List worked on an enzyme called aldolase A. This catalyses what is known as the aldol reaction, an important way of forging molecular bonds between carbon atoms.
利斯特博士研究了一种名为醛缩酶A的酶，这种酶催化所谓的醛缩反应，这是一种在碳原子之间形成分子键的重要方式。
Aldolase A is made of 350 amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, but the bit that does the work consists of only three of these: lysine, glutamic acid and tyrosine. The rest of the enzyme is packaging.
醛缩酶A由350种氨基酸组成，这些氨基酸是蛋白质的组成成分，但起作用的部分只有三个：赖氨酸、谷氨酸和酪氨酸。剩下的酶是包装的。
He therefore wondered if he could isolate the enzyme’s active centre and yet preserve its activity. In fact, he did better.
因此，他想知道他是否能分离出这种酶的活性中心，同时又能保持它的活性。事实上，他做得比想象中更好。
He showed that the aldol reaction can be catalysed by a single amino acid, proline. And, crucially, this retains the enantiomeric purity of the enzyme-mediated reaction.
他证明了羟醛缩化反应可以被一种氨基酸--脯氨酸催化。最重要的是，这保留了酶介导反应的对映体纯度。
Dr MacMillan came from the other end of the problem. He wanted to remove the metal (in this case copper) from the catalyst involved in a different process, the Diels–Alder reaction.
麦克米伦博士来自问题的另一端。他想从另一个过程——狄尔斯-阿尔德反应（Diels-Alder reaction）中的催化剂中去除金属（在这种情况下是铜）。
This is a way of joining two molecules into a six-carbon ring. One of the reagents contributes four carbon atoms to the ring and the other contributes two.
这是一种将两个分子连接成六碳环的方法。其中一种试剂为环贡献了四个碳原子，另一种试剂则贡献了两个碳原子。
Six-carbon rings are ubiquitous in organic chemistry, and by putting different side groups onto the reagents a vast variety of them can be turned out.
六碳环在有机化学中普遍存在，通过在试剂上加入不同的侧基，可以产生多种六碳环。
Dr MacMillan found he could catalyse Diels-Alder reactions using a type of metal-free molecule called an imidazolidinone to activate the two-carbon component, meaning that it combines enthusiastically with its four-carbon compadre.
麦克米伦博士发现，他可以使用一种名为咪唑烷酮的无金属分子来催化狄尔斯-阿尔德反应，以激活双碳成分，这意味着它可以与其四碳化合物结合。
The result of these two pieces of work is a field called asymmetric organocatalysis (the asymmetric part of the name referring to its ability to generate pure enantiomers), that is now rippling through industrial chemistry.
这两项工作的结果是一个被称为不对称有机催化的领域（这个名称的不对称部分指的是它产生纯对映体的能力）现在正席卷工业化学界。
And, since industrial chemistry, in one form or another, underpins most economic activity, it is also rippling, however invisibly, through life.
利斯特博士和麦克米伦博士找到了一种两全其美的方法：不含金属原子的小分子催化剂，可以生成纯净的对映体，而且通常会简化多步反应。这具有重大的工业意义。
Dr List worked on an enzyme called aldolase A. This catalyses what is known as the aldol reaction, an important way of forging molecular bonds between carbon atoms.
利斯特博士研究了一种名为醛缩酶A的酶，这种酶催化所谓的醛缩反应，这是一种在碳原子之间形成分子键的重要方式。
Aldolase A is made of 350 amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, but the bit that does the work consists of only three of these: lysine, glutamic acid and tyrosine. The rest of the enzyme is packaging.
醛缩酶A由350种氨基酸组成，这些氨基酸是蛋白质的组成成分，但起作用的部分只有三个：赖氨酸、谷氨酸和酪氨酸。剩下的酶是包装的。
He therefore wondered if he could isolate the enzyme’s active centre and yet preserve its activity. In fact, he did better.
因此，他想知道他是否能分离出这种酶的活性中心，同时又能保持它的活性。事实上，他做得比想象中更好。
He showed that the aldol reaction can be catalysed by a single amino acid, proline. And, crucially, this retains the enantiomeric purity of the enzyme-mediated reaction.
他证明了羟醛缩化反应可以被一种氨基酸--脯氨酸催化。最重要的是，这保留了酶介导反应的对映体纯度。
Dr MacMillan came from the other end of the problem. He wanted to remove the metal (in this case copper) from the catalyst involved in a different process, the Diels–Alder reaction.
麦克米伦博士来自问题的另一端。他想从另一个过程——狄尔斯-阿尔德反应（Diels-Alder reaction）中的催化剂中去除金属（在这种情况下是铜）。
This is a way of joining two molecules into a six-carbon ring. One of the reagents contributes four carbon atoms to the ring and the other contributes two.
这是一种将两个分子连接成六碳环的方法。其中一种试剂为环贡献了四个碳原子，另一种试剂则贡献了两个碳原子。
Six-carbon rings are ubiquitous in organic chemistry, and by putting different side groups onto the reagents a vast variety of them can be turned out.
六碳环在有机化学中普遍存在，通过在试剂上加入不同的侧基，可以产生多种六碳环。
Dr MacMillan found he could catalyse Diels-Alder reactions using a type of metal-free molecule called an imidazolidinone to activate the two-carbon component, meaning that it combines enthusiastically with its four-carbon compadre.
麦克米伦博士发现，他可以使用一种名为咪唑烷酮的无金属分子来催化狄尔斯-阿尔德反应，以激活双碳成分，这意味着它可以与其四碳化合物结合。
The result of these two pieces of work is a field called asymmetric organocatalysis (the asymmetric part of the name referring to its ability to generate pure enantiomers), that is now rippling through industrial chemistry.
这两项工作的结果是一个被称为不对称有机催化的领域（这个名称的不对称部分指的是它产生纯对映体的能力）现在正席卷工业化学界。
And, since industrial chemistry, in one form or another, underpins most economic activity, it is also rippling, however invisibly, through life.
