MIT chemists have developed a new way to synthesize complex molecules that were originally isolated from plants and could hold potential as antibiotics, analgesics, or cancer drugs.
Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyAug 14 2024
Mohammad Movassaghi, Study Senior Author and Professor, Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Fusing rings Oligocyclotryptamines belong to a class of molecules called alkaloids -; nitrogen-containing organic compounds produced mainly by plants. At least eight different oligocyclotryptamines have been isolated from a genus of flowering plants known as Psychotria, most of which are found in tropical forests.
For many years, Movassaghi's lab has been developing ways to form carbon-carbon bonds between carbon atoms that are already crowded with other atoms. In 2011, they devised a method that involves transforming the two carbon atoms into carbon radicals and directing their union. To create these radicals, and guide the paired union to be completely selective, the researchers first attach each of the targeted carbon atoms to a nitrogen atom; these two nitrogen atoms bind to each other.
The synthesis that they developed begins with one molecule of cyclotryptamine derivative, to which additional cyclotryptamine fragments with correct relative stereochemistry and position selectivity are added, one at a time. Each of these additions is made possible by the diazene-directed process that Movassaghi's lab previously developed.
Drugs Molecule Research Stereochemistry
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