The control of the 3D structure of molecules is promising for the development of new drugs

A team led by scientists from the City College of New York (NYC) and the Graduate Center of City University of New York (GC / CUNY) has made a major breakthrough in chemical synthesis to quickly and reliably modify the 3D structure molecules used in drug discovery, according to an article in the latest issue of the journal Science.

The researchers are relying on the discovery of the Nobel laureate chemist Akira Suzuki, who pioneered the development of cross-coupling reactions, which use palladium catalysts to form bonds between two carbon atoms. Suzuki's original discovery has allowed the rapid construction of new drug candidates, but is largely limited to the construction of new flat molecules (or 2D).

"Two molecules that have the same structure and the same composition but are mirror images of one another can produce very different biological responses," said research project director and corresponding author Mark Biscoe , Associate Professor of Chemistry at CCNY and GC / CUNY. "Therefore, the control of the orientation of atoms in the 3D structure of molecules is essential in the process of drug discovery."

Briscoe noted that the tragedy of thalidomide in the 1950s and 1960s was due to the different biological effects of the two mirror images of thalidomide. "Today, cross-coupling reactions are widely used in drug discovery, but they have not been able to control molecular structures in 3D. Our team has developed a new method to obtain this control, which allows the selective formation of two mirror images of a molecule. "

With this new method, scientists will now be able to use cross-coupling reactions to quickly generate libraries of new compounds while controlling the 3D architecture of the compounds. "This means we are now able to more effectively control the final geometry of a molecule," said lead author Shibin Zhao, Ph.D. of GC / CUNY. student with the Biscoe group. Easy access to these structurally diverse compounds will facilitate efforts to discover and develop new drugs.

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