Scientists Confirm Decades-Old Vitamin B1 Theory

Chemists have solved a 67-year-old scientific mystery by stabilizing a highly reactive molecule in water, validating a long-standing theory about vitamin B1. The breakthrough centres on a carbene—an unstable carbon species with only six valence electrons, making it extremely reactive and short-lived, especially in water.

For decades, scientists suspected that vitamin B1 (thiamine) briefly forms a carbene-like structure to drive essential biochemical reactions. This idea, first proposed in 1958 by Ronald Breslow, remained unproven due to the molecule’s instability. Now, researchers led by Vincent Lavallo have successfully created and stabilised a carbene in water using a protective molecular structure.

Published in Science Advances, the study confirms Breslow’s hypothesis and opens doors to greener chemical processes. Stabilising such molecules in water could enable safer, more sustainable pharmaceutical production and bring scientists closer to replicating reactions that naturally occur inside living cells.

11-04-2026