Skip to main content
European Commission logo print header

The Development of a Novel Tin-Free Radical Methodology and its Application to the Asymmetric Total Synthesis of (+)-Ineleganolide

Article Category

Article available in the following languages:

Useful new chemical intermediate created

Researchers have identified a new precursor molecule for the simple production of cyclopropylketones, important intermediate compounds in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals.

Health icon Health

Recently, scientists have found a simple way to make cyclopropylketones using a method called radical transfer of xanthates. However, the usefulness of this method for making pharmaceuticals is limited because a secondary reaction (decarbonylation) produces a useless side-product. The EU-funded RADICALS 2009 project aimed to address this problem by creating and testing a range of precursors for the reaction. Precursor molecules using nitrogen or oxygen atoms were totally unsuccessful. The nitrogen-containing compounds could not undergo the radical transfer of xanthates reaction, and researchers were unable to create oxygen-containing compounds. Introducing another carbon ring structure yielded unpredictable results. Finally, adding carbon atoms to the cyclopropane ring yielded a simple-to-prepare compound that completely avoided the decarbonylation reaction. RADICALS 2009 has thus successfully developed an intermediate compound that can be used for the radical transfer of xanthates reaction. This will allow for a much-simplified chemical synthesis of important pharmaceutical and other useful compounds.

Keywords

Precursor molecule, cyclopropylketones, intermediate compound, pharmaceuticals, radical transfer of xanthates, decarbonylation

Discover other articles in the same domain of application