Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

Researchers diversify drug development options with new metal catalyst

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A University of Illinois team of researchers led by chemistry professor M. Christina White has developed a new manganese-based catalyst that can change the structure of druglike molecules to make new drugs, advancing the pace and efficiency of drug development. 

Their findings appear in the journal Nature Chemistry.

Many pharmaceuticals contain aliphatic and aromatic carbon-hydrogen scaffolds to which chemists introduce oxygen atoms in precise locations to dictate the behavior of the drug. Aliphatic molecules have carbon-hydrogen bonds that are strong, ubiquitous and difficult to manipulate without affecting other, more reactive parts of the molecule. For example, aromatics have a type of bond that is often more reactive than aliphatic carbon-hydrogen bonds.

“Nature tells us in examples of drugs such as erythromycin and Taxol that by swapping out specific hydrogen atoms with oxygen atoms at strategic locations, chemists can control the function of a drug,” White said. “However, carbon-hydrogen bonds in aliphatic structures are some of the strongest in nature, and our previously developed methods to convert them to carbon-oxygen bonds – a process called oxidation – tend not to tolerate aromatics, which also are very prevalent in drugs.”

“We have developed a synthetic manganese catalyst that can oxidize aliphatic scaffolds in the presence of aromatics that serve as frameworks for most drugs,” White said. White often refers to what her group does as “molecular surgery.” Think of this manganese catalyst as analogous to a saw that can cut the skull without touching the brain, she said.

“Our new catalyst does the work of a complex enzyme, but is a simple substance that uses basic principles and can be stored in a refrigerator,” she said. “It will allow drug developers to replace a hydrogen atom with an oxygen atom without having to make a new drug from scratch.”

The team has used the new manganese catalyst to successfully demonstrate oxidation in 50 molecules, four of which are drug scaffolds, with the potential to rapidly produce derivatives having different biological activities or metabolites. This is important because metabolites – the byproducts of metabolizing a drug – sometimes cause side effects or are more active than the original drug, White said.

 “Moving forward, we believe this catalyst may enable chemists to expedite the drug discovery process by producing new drugs from old ones and identifying metabolites without having to do new syntheses,” she said.

The National Institutes of Health, Uehara Memorial Foundation and the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico supported this research.

To reach M. Christina White, call 217-333-6173; mcwhite7@illinois.edu.  

The paper “Chemoselective methylene oxidation in aromatic molecules” is available online and from the U. of I. News Bureau.

DOI: 10.1038/s41557-018-0175-8.

Read Next

Life sciences Photo of Michael Ward standing in tall grass on a riverbank.

How are migrating wild birds affected by H5N1 infection in the U.S.?

Each spring, roughly 3.5 billion wild birds migrate from their warm winter havens to their breeding grounds across North America, eating insects, distributing plant seeds and providing a variety of other ecosystem services to stopping sites along the way. Some also carry diseases like avian influenza, a worry for agricultural, environmental and public health authorities. […]

Announcements Marcelo Garcia, professor of civil and environmental engineering at The Grainger College of Engineering.

Illinois faculty member elected to National Academy of Engineering

Champaign, Ill. — Marcelo Garcia, a professor of civil and environmental engineering in The Grainger College of Engineering, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

Social sciences Male and female student embracing on the quad with flowering redbud tree and the ACES library in the background. Photo by Michelle Hassel

Dating is not broken, but the trajectories of relationships have changed

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — According to some popular culture writers and online posts by discouraged singles lamenting their inability to find romantic partners, dating is “broken,” fractured by the social isolation created by technology, pandemic lockdowns and potential partners’ unrealistic expectations. Yet two studies of college students conducted a decade apart found that their ideas about […]

Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

507 E. Green St
MC-426
Champaign, IL 61820

Email: stratcom@illinois.edu

Phone (217) 333-5010