ChemMaps lets researchers navigate the chemical universe

06-Jun-2018 - Researchers from North Carolina State University have created a new online service - ChemMaps - that allows users to interactively navigate the chemical space of over 8,000 drugs and 47,000 environmental compounds in 3D and real time. ChemMaps is designed to be a central resource for students and ...

Libraries for Proteins

Dynamic combinatorial libraries generated from hydrazone-functionalized surface mimetics

29-May-2018 - Combinatorial libraries are a key component of the chemist's toolkit for ligand screening. Dynamic combinatorial libraries add a new dimension by interlinking synthesis and screening. Now, British scientists have developed a dynamic combinatorial library for the screening of supramolecular ligand ...

A new twist on asymmetric catalysis

28-Sep-2017 - In the same way a glove will only fit one hand, molecules have the symmetry that controls their behavior and interactions. In drug design, this means reversing the symmetry of a molecule can mean the difference between an effective treatment or a compound that has serious negative effects. As a ...

Bio-inspired catalysts that work in water open door to greener chemical processes

09-May-2017 - Université Laval researchers have developed catalysts that, like enzymes present in living cells, are able to function efficiently in water. This discovery shows that it may be possible to substantially reduce the use of toxic and non-recyclable organic solvents in a host of chemical reactions, ...

Synthesis of medicinally privileged heterocycles through dielectric heating

10-Mar-2017 - Heterocyclic compounds are enormously crucial in various industries including food, agricultural, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Heterocyclic pharmacophores are one of the main chemical components in drug discovery research. A report in 2013 claims that four out of six and nine out of twenty one ...

Revolutionary process to create ether from esters using metal catalysts

08-Mar-2017 - A group of Waseda University researchers has developed a new process using palladium or nickel as a catalyst for removing carbon monoxide from esters to produce ethers. This innovation provides new opportunities for development of drugs to fight cancer, malaria and more. The conventional method ...

Chemists reveal novel biocatalysts for bioactive alkaloid synthesis

23-Feb-2017 - Alkaloids are natural nitrogen-containing compounds produced by plants and microbes. These molecules, such as morphine and quinine, are important human medicines. Alkaloids are typically polycyclic in nature. While the polycyclic characteristics are important for their bioactivities, these ...

Light powers new chemistry for old enzymes

23-Dec-2016 - Enzymes are nature's tools for catalyzing life's essential reactions. Though unrivaled in their efficiency and selectivity, enzymes only carry out a narrow range of natural reactions, limiting their usefulness in modern organic synthesis. Now, Princeton researchers report a method that expands ...

New technique that could speed drug development

05-Dec-2016 - Synthesizing useful new compounds is what pharmaceutical discovery and development is all about. Researchers at the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis have devised a method to substantially speed up the process. The IUPUI chemists have developed and tested a ...

Pine product offers fresh take on fine chemical synthesis

01-Dec-2016 - The goop from pine trees that contains compounds known as terpenes is used in the manufacture of food, cosmetics and drugs, but it might become even more valuable as a chemical reagent made through a process developed by scientists at Rice University. The Rice lab of synthetic chemist László ...