Lead Author J. T. Fu (IMAGE) Emory Health Sciences Caption "We can change a cheap and abundant hydrocarbon with limited usefulness into a valuable scaffold for developing new compounds -- such as pharmaceuticals and other fine chemicals," says J.T. Fu (above), a graduate student at Emory University and first author of the paper. Credit Emory University Usage Restrictions Must include credit. License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.