How Can Academia Help Industry Reduce the Footprint of Chemicals Manufacture?

Industrial representatives from the Swiss chemistry ecosystem met to formulate unmet needs in the field of sustainability and share the content of the exchange. The aim is to spark inspiration and trigger ambitious and pre-competitive projects collectively at the interface of the academic and industrial worlds, with the hope to profoundly change the current practices and provide an answer to some of the most urgent environmental challenges.

Rediscovering Cyanogen Gas for Organic Synthesis: Formation of 2-Cyanothiazole Derivatives.

The expeditious synthesis of an API building block, 2-cyanothiazole, from cyanogen gas and a readily available dithiane is reported. A previously undisclosed partially saturated intermediate is formed, which can be further functionalized and isolated by the acylation of the hydroxy group. Dehydration using trimethylsilyl chloride furnished 2-cyanothiazole, which could be further converted to the corresponding amidine.

An Improved Impact Ratio for Identifying Critical Process Parameters in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Processes.

The identification of critical process parameters in biologics and small molecule process development is a key element of quality by design. The objectivity and consistency of procedures to identify critical process parameters can be improved with the use of impact ratios. Impact ratios quantify a process parameter's practical effect on a critical quality attribute relative to the critical quality attribute's acceptance limits.

Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Unfunctionalized Tetrasubstituted Acyclic Olefins.

Asymmetric hydrogenation has evolved as one of the most powerful tools to construct stereocenters. However, the asymmetric hydrogenation of unfunctionalized tetrasubstituted acyclic olefins remains the pinnacle of asymmetric synthesis and an unsolved challenge. We report herein the discovery of an iridium catalyst for the first, generally applicable, highly enantio- and diastereoselective hydrogenation of such olefins and the mechanistic insights of the reaction.

Efficient Industrial Synthesis of the MDM2 Antagonist Idasanutlin via a Cu(I)-catalyzed [3+2] Asymmetric Cycloaddition.

A concise asymmetric synthesis has been developed to prepare idasanutlin, a small molecule MDM2 antagonist. Idasanutlin is currently being investigated as a potential treatment for various solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. The highly congested pyrrolidine core, containing four contiguous stereocenters, was constructed via a Cu(I)/(R)-BINAP catalyzed [3+2]-cycloaddition reaction.

Benzodioxoles: novel cannabinoid-1 receptor inverse agonists for the treatment of obesity.

The application of the evolutionary fragment-based de novo design tool TOPology Assigning System (TOPAS), starting from a known CB1R (CB-1 receptor) ligand, followed by further refinement principles, including pharmacophore compliance, chemical tractability, and drug likeness, allowed the identification of benzodioxoles as a novel CB1R inverse agonist series. Extensive multidimensional optimization was rewarded by the identification of promising lead compounds, showing in vivo activity. These compounds reversed the CP-55940-induced hypothermia in Naval Medical Research Institute (NMRI) mice and reduced body-weight gain, as well as fat mass, in diet-induced obese Sprague-Dawley rats.