Angew. Chem. Int. Edn 121, 5970–5973 (2009)

Making a complex organic molecule generally involves a long series of reactions and purification steps to build it piece by piece. Much more efficient would be to simply throw all of the components into a flask at the same time, combining them at a stroke.

Romano Orru and his colleagues at the Free University Amsterdam in the Netherlands have now united an unprecedented eight molecular fragments — without intermediate purification steps — to create a complex 'druglike' compound.

Their synthesis has three stages — each designed not to interfere with chemical groups incorporated in previous steps — and lasts for almost three days. But the end product comes out of the flask with an overall yield of 24%, impressive for a synthesis that involves forming nine new chemical bonds.