panreaction

Panreaction is a term occasionally encountered in chemical literature and speculative discussions to denote a hypothetical reaction framework designed to operate across a broad range of substrates and functional groups. There is no widely accepted definition or standard usage, and the meaning of panreaction varies by author and context. The prefix pan- derives from "all" or "across all," suggesting a universal or pan-substrate character, while reaction refers to a chemical transformation.

In one interpretation, a panreaction would be a general-purpose transformation that tolerates wide functional-group diversity and can deliver multiple target products under a single set of conditions, reducing the need for substrate-specific optimization. In another view, panreaction is a theoretical construct in reaction-network or systems chemistry describing a unified pathway or framework that connects diverse chemical transformations within a single mechanistic umbrella. In computational chemistry or retrosynthetic planning, the term might describe algorithms or models that aim to map or optimize across large swaths of chemical space.

Practical realization faces significant barriers, including chemoselectivity, catalyst design, safety, and scalability. As of the mid-2020s, panreaction remains primarily a conceptual or speculative idea rather than a catalogued, reproducible methodology.

See also: cascade reactions, one-pot synthesis, multicomponent reactions, universal catalysts, reaction networks, chemoselectivity.