How does it work and what does it give us?

Innovative technology enables accurate and rapid arrangement of key atoms critical to the drug’s effectiveness. Scientists say this is a complete revolution in the process of finding potential drug candidates. According to the news of 24 Kanal based on SciTechDaily, KAIST researchers are behind this development.

Professor Yoonsu Park from KAIST’s Department of Chemistry says that in its current development phase, the method successfully “allows the easy arrangement and rectification of oxygen atoms in furan compounds into nitrogen atoms, converting them directly into pyrrole frameworks commonly used in pharmaceuticals.” “

Many drugs have complex chemical structures, but their effectiveness is often determined by a single critical atom. Atoms such as oxygen and nitrogen play a central role in enhancing the pharmacological effect of these drugs, especially against viruses.

This phenomenon, in which the addition of specific atoms to the drug’s molecule significantly affects the drug’s effectiveness, is known as the “single atom effect.” In the development of the latest drugs The key is to identify the atoms that maximize the drug’s effectiveness..

However, evaluating the impact of single atoms has traditionally required multi-step, expensive synthesis processes; because it has been difficult to selectively arrange individual atoms in stable ring structures containing oxygen or nitrogen.

Professor Pak’s team overcame this challenge, by integrating a photocatalyst that uses light energy. Acting as “molecular scissors,” this photocatalyst freely cuts and reassembles five-membered rings, allowing single-atom arrangement at room temperature and standard atmospheric pressure. This was possible for the first time in the world.

This led to the discovery of a new reaction mechanism in which excited molecular scissors remove oxygen from furan via single-electron oxidation and then successively add a nitrogen atom.

Donhyun Kim and Jaehyun Yu, who worked in development, said that offers technical versatility Thanks to the use of light energy instead of harsh conditions. They noted that the technology enables selective regulation even when applied to complex natural products or pharmaceuticals.