After an initial discovery that it was possible to build variant amino acids ('Q4As') of value in medicinal chemistry using chemistry invented during ERC grant ROCOCO, this PoC grant explored the practical synthesis of these amino acids in useable form and on >1 g scale, to allow them to be used as part of drug discovery programmes. We found that we could make the process for their synthesis general and effficient, and that the products could be converted to an activated but stable form compatible with peptide synthesis programmes. The work is about to be published, and further commercialisation activities are planned in conjuction with fine chemicals suppliers. Potential benefits will be the development of new drugs and the facilitation of medical progress through the availablility of these medicinal chemistry building blocks.
