Asymmetric Organocatalysis: A Survival Guide to Medicinal Chemists

Majority of drugs act by interacting with chiral counterparts, e.g., proteins, and we are, unfortunately, well-aware of how chirality can negatively impact the outcome of a therapeutic regime. The number of chiral, non-racemic drugs on the market is increasing, and it is becoming ever more important...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2022-12, Vol.28 (1), p.271
Main Authors: Reyes, Efraim, Prieto, Liher, Milelli, Andrea
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
asymmetric organocatalysis
Asymmetry
Biological Products - chemistry
Catalysis
Chemistry
Chemistry, Pharmaceutical
Chemists
chiral drugs
Chirality
Composition
Drug discovery
drug synthesis
Drugs
Enzymes
Industrial applications
Industrial research
Medical research
Methods
Natural products
Pharmaceutical industry
Pharmaceutical sciences
R&D
Research & development
Review
Stereoisomers
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Summary:Majority of drugs act by interacting with chiral counterparts, e.g., proteins, and we are, unfortunately, well-aware of how chirality can negatively impact the outcome of a therapeutic regime. The number of chiral, non-racemic drugs on the market is increasing, and it is becoming ever more important to prepare these compounds in a safe, economic, and environmentally sustainable fashion. Asymmetric organocatalysis has a long history, but it began its renaissance era only during the first years of the millennium. Since then, this field has reached an extraordinary level, as confirmed by the awarding of the 2021 Chemistry Nobel Prize. In the present review, we wish to highlight the application of organocatalysis in the synthesis of enantio-enriched molecules that may be of interest to the pharmaceutical industry and the medicinal chemistry community. We aim to discuss the different activation modes observed for organocatalysts, examining, for each of them, the generally accepted mechanisms and the most important and developed reactions, that may be useful to medicinal chemists. For each of these types of organocatalytic activations, select examples from academic and industrial applications will be disclosed during the synthesis of drugs and natural products.
ISSN:1420-3049
1420-3049
DOI:10.3390/molecules28010271