The invention of a tool capable of unlocking previously impossible organic chemical reactions has opened new pathways in the pharmaceutical industry to create effective drugs more quickly. Traditionally, most drugs are assembled using molecular fragments called alkyl building blocks, organic compounds that have a wide variety of applications. However, because of how difficult it can be to combine different types of these compounds into something new, this method of creation is limited, especially for complex medicines.
To help solve this issue, a team of chemists report the discovery of a particular type of stable nickel complex, a chemical compound that contains a nickel atom. Since this compound can be made directly from classic chemical building blocks and is easily isolated, scientists can blend them with other building blocks in a manner that promises access to a new chemical space." Christo Sevov, principal investigator of the study and associate professor in chemistry and biochemistry at The Ohio State University "There are really no reactions that can very reliably and selectively construct the bonds that we are now constructing with these alkyl fragments," Sevov said.
"By attaching the nickel complexes to them as temporary caps, we found that we can then stitch on all sorts of other alkyl fragments to now make new alkyl-alkyl bonds." The study was published in Nature. On average, it can take a decade of research and development before a drug can successfully be broug.