Novel strategies expedite organic chemistry synthesis
Biological macromolecules consist of carbon-based moieties often of heterocyclic nature, such as indolizinones, isoquinolones or pyridines. For the synthesis of organic compounds, chemists need to create new bonds among carbon atoms. To this end, they utilise functional groups or structural features of relatively high chemical complexity and reactivity. The EU-funded MCCYC project aimed to develop new methodologies for shortening these lengthy synthetic procedures and providing new ways for efficient straightforward organic compound synthesis. The outline of their proposed method entailed the activation of simple C–H bonds that are present in most raw materials. This method allowed them to form carbon–carbon or carbon–nitrogen bonds in one step from the starting materials. In an alternative protocol, scientists utilised metal catalysts such as rhodium to create transition complexes that ultimately catalysed the functionalisation of new C–H bonds as well as cycloaddition reactions. In the future, these organometallic compounds could be applied to new reactions based on C–H activation processes, or other highly valuable transformations. The generated methodologies have the potential to greatly expand the number of available pathways to build complex molecular scaffolds. With special focus on isoquinolone and indolizinone cores, MCCYC work offers a more direct approach for the synthesis of molecule libraries for biological research.
