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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Tinkering with molecular ‘backbones’ holds promise for drug discovery

A method to edit the backbones of molecules allows chemists to modify ring-shaped chemical structures with greater ease.
A pile of yellow and white capsules of the prescription medicine Celebrex (celecoxib)

Chemists used a molecular editing method to make compounds including precursors of the anti-inflammatory drug celecoxib. Credit: DBA Images/Alamy

A chemical procedure that precisely deletes a carbon atom from molecules shifts their backbones from a hexagon to a pentagon ― a technique that could aid drug discovery1.

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Nature 612, 379 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-04249-4

References

  1. Bartholomew, G. L., Carpaneto, F. & Sarpong, R. J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 144, 22309–22315 (2022).

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