Cross-Coupling Reactions Leading to Chiral Heterocyclic Scaffolds for Drug Development and Manufacturing

杂环化合物是具有至少一个非碳原子的环状分子，由于其良好的物理和化学性质而广泛应用于药物的发现和开发。吡啶是FDA批准的药物中应用最广泛的芳香族杂环化合物，对其及其衍生物的制备方法有持续的需求。不幸的是，大多数这样做的方法都采用了苛刻的反应条件，因此没有得到广泛应用。

Heterocycles, cyclic molecules with at least one non-carbon atom, are widely used in drug discovery and development due to their favourable physical and chemical properties. Pyridines are the most widely used aromatic heterocycle in FDA approved drugs and there is a continued demand for methods to prepare them and their derivatives. Unfortunately, the majority of methods to do this employ harsh reaction conditions and are therefore not widely useful. We have devised a conceptually new approach to make pyridine derivatives using exceptionally mild conditions that tolerate a wide range of functional groups. These reactions also provide immediate access to small molecules that possess 'drug-like' qualities and that are hard to make by other means. Finally, our methods are catalytic and therefore will contribute to the reduction of the environmental costs of drug discovery and development. As a result, the proposed research will have a direct impact on the search for new therapeutic agents.