"Chiral" Molecules Pave The Way For Safer, More Effective Drugs

Main Category: Biology / Biochemistry
Also Included In: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 11 Aug 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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In the drive to create safer, more effective drugs for cancer, Parkinson's disease, and other health challenges, researchers worldwide are stepping up efforts to produce purer substances based on a molecule's unique symmetry or chirality, according to an article scheduled for the August 4 issue of Chemical & Engineering News.

In the C&EN cover story, Senior Correspondent Ann M. Thayer points out that in the pharmaceutical world, a molecule's right- or left-handed symmetry determines whether it does good or ill in the body. Today, about 70 percent of new small-molecule drugs that the Food & Drug Administration approved in 2007 contained at least one chiral molecule as its central active component.

But creating one specific configuration of mirror image molecules rather than a mixture remains a challenge, as these molecules are complex and difficult for chemists to construct. But thanks to increased cooperation between academia and industry, chemists are identifying new catalysts and reactions to produce chiral compounds faster, more efficiently, and with fewer environmental risks, such as metal contaminants, the article notes. Although these processes will likely remain unknown to the average consumer, health and the environment will benefit in the long run, the article suggests.

The story is available here.

American Chemical Society

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