Organic Chemistry Seminar

     Small molecules have been unique research tools for the discovery of new biological macromolecules and the study of their functions. They have led to therapeutic agents for the benefit of mankind. However the design of small molecules able to interact with the biological world is complex because of the chemical descriptor of biological macromolecules is rather restricted and , as a result, chances to find a compound with suitable activity are small. Small natural products (NPs) are especially interesting in that context since they are produced by enzymatic reactions and, therefore, their chemical descriptor should be optimal to modulate an area of biological interest. Also NPs often allow for entry into the discovery process at a much more advanced stage that does the screening of standard diversity libraries. Thus they could advantageously be used as templates for the  design of new bioactive molecules.

     Our group has been involved for several years in the design and synthesis of NPs-derived scaffolds aiming at the production of libraries of NPs analogs in various therapeutic areas. This required an easy access to the privileged scaffold by short, efficient and productive synthetic sequences. The lecture will illustrate some of our synthetic efforts towards various privileged scaffolds derived from natural products.  New applications of the venerable Diels-Alder reaction led to a wealth of interesting structures and unpredicted chemistry.