New Method Cuts the Cost of Drug-Building Chemicals

Drug-Binding Chemicals - American Health Council

“EPFL scientists design a new method to cheaply produce some of the most important chemical compounds in the pharmaceutical industry — the amines.The amines are one of the most important classes of chemical compounds today. Amines that contain a ring-like structure — called an “aryl” group — are used widely in pharmaceuticals, such as the top-selling drugs Abilify, Crestor, Gleevec, and Lidoderm. EPFL scientists have now developed a method to produce aryl-containing amines in a cheap and easily scalable way. The work is published in Nature Communications.”

“Amines with an aromatic aryl ring in their structure are collectively referred to as “hetero aryl amines” and are widely used in medicinal chemistry. This process involves connecting an amine to an organic molecule — what is known as a “functional group.” Currently, making these amines requires a three-step process that produces toxic compounds called anilines. These are often used in industry, e.g. to make polyurethane. Chemists make hetero aryl amines by treating anilines with hydrogen.”

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