On the cost of academic methodologies

Abstract

The cost of reagents and catalysts employed in synthetic methodologies developed in academia is very rarely discussed. Yet these costs are very real as they represent a significant portion of any grant proposal budget. Herein, we wish to introduce the concept of Cost of Academic Methodologies (CAM) as an aspect, which should be considered when evaluating synthetic methodologies. We also introduce an associated concept: the Aggregate Molecular Weight (AMW). In order to illustrate these concepts, examples from various laboratories, including our own, are evaluated through the CAM/AMW lens.