New conceptual framework for building linking ring structures

A single building block can perform two roles, saving time, steps, and effort.

A research team at the Institute has developed a new bismuth-based chemical building block that enables the synthesis of important ring linkages for medications and pesticides.

A research team at the Max Planck Institut für Kohlenforschung has introduced a new chemical building block based on bismuth, which permits the synthesis of important ring linkages, crucial in the production of medications or pesticides. The new building block is characterized by its remarkable adaptability role, also known as ambiphilicity character. Traditionally, the connection between two aromatic rings has been carried out with two building blocks with different “polarities” and fixed roles, similar to a plug and a socket. The new bismuth building blocks function like an adapter: it fits on both sides. This implies that you can connect both sockets and plugs to the new building blocks. This might affect the celerity by which libraries of new drug candidates are built. These new modules can be isolated and are easy to store and use in the laboratory.

“This bismuth modules add a new theoretical framework for construction of linkages. Now, the practitioner is free of the burden to choose between nucleophiles and electrophiles, and select by availability” says Josep Cornellà, director at the Max Planck Institut für Kohlenforschung and one of the authors of the study, which has now been published in the journal Nature.

The researchers aim at expanding this concept further and test the limits of the approach.