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Atom-swap chemistry could aid drug discovery

An unconventional route for modifying pharmaceutically relevant molecules swaps an atom of carbon for one of nitrogen. The resulting derivatives might open up avenues of research in medicinal-chemistry campaigns.
  1. Filippo Ficarra

    1. Filippo Ficarra is in the GSK Carbon Neutral Laboratories for Sustainable Chemistry, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2TU, UK.

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  2. Mattia Silvi

    1. Mattia Silvi is in the GSK Carbon Neutral Laboratories for Sustainable Chemistry, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2TU, UK.

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The molecules of the active ingredients in pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals consist largely of ‘skeletons’ made of carbon atoms, but these carbon frameworks also contain other atoms such as nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur. Modifying the skeletons by replacing one of their atoms with another of a different element would be a valuable tool for chemists, because it would provide a simple way to generate analogues of biologically active compounds. However, this conceptually straightforward and potentially versatile transformation is missing from much of the extensive repertoire of reactions used for organic synthesis. In a paper in Nature, Woo et al.1 present a practical strategy for replacing a carbon atom with a nitrogen atom in molecules known as quinolines, which are often found in pharmaceuticals — providing an inspiring example of a single-atom substitution.

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Nature 623, 36-37 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-03297-8

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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