EU molecule research project makes synthesis simpler

Published: 17-Apr-2013

Scientists have developed olefin metathesis reaction process


A European Union (EU) research project has developed new means of rearranging molecules, which will help pharma companies manufacture more effective medicines for less money.

The four-year €3.6m EUMET project has ‘made the process of synthesising compounds simpler, more efficient and greener’, said the European Commission. Its scientists have been developing a reaction process called olefin metathesis, which is ‘a beautiful way of assembling molecules’ says EUMET’s project coordinator Professor Steven Nolan, of the University of St Andrews in Scotland.

Nolan said the process allows double bonds to be broken and made between carbon atoms.

‘The chemical reaction is like a dance in which one couple exchanges partners with another. We make the exchange go faster by using novel catalysts,’ he said.

The Commission says research consortium member Janssen Pharmaceutica, of Belgium, has developed a cheaper hepatitis C medicine as a result – treatments for this disease are notoriously expensive. The company is close to validating an affordable oral pill treatment, the Commission says.

‘This is a life changer that could affect millions,’ said Nolan. By using metathesis, the company avoided a synthetic manufacturing process with at least 10 supplementary synthetic steps, ‘a huge increase in cost and time’, he added.

The Commission said the technique could also help research into treating bacterial infection, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, arthritis, migraine and HIV.

EUMET is now winding up. Partners also include Umicore, Germany; and IFP Energies Nouvelles (IFPEN), France, plus universities at Salerno, Italy; Warsaw, Poland; Hannover, Germany; Graz, Austria; and Rennes, France.

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