Chirality, and biological activity

A widely used technique for separating racemic mixture is the use of enzyme mediated transesterification or hydrolysis. One important example is the separation of Naproxen (33), which is a member of the 2-arylpropionic acid class of profens that are broadly used as NSAIDs (see Section 2 for the separation of enantiomers using a crystallization approach). The important association between chirality and biological activity of this class of drugs has been extensively researched, where... 

The continuing development of efficient and practical asymmetric processes will be one of the major driving forces in the future of drug discovery and development. In particular, the design of new general and practical catalytic processes will help explore the link between chirality and biological activity. 

The ultimate focus of the endeavors of medicinal chemists is to develop a successful drug that will cure patients. However, with the increased regulatory requirements within the competitive biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, the initial research to achieve this objective must be conducted in a rapid and thorough manner. During the drug research and development process, the important and subtle relationship between chirality and biological activity should be carefully considered. 

J, Knabe, paper presented at Int. Symp. Chirality and Biological Activity, April 5-8, 1988, Tubingen, Germany. 

Holmstedt, B. (1990) The use of enantiomers in biological studies a historical review. In Holmstedt, B., Frank, H. and Testa, B. (eds). Chirality and Biological Activity, pp. 1-14. Alan R Liss, New York. 

B. Holmstedt, H. Frank, and B. Testa, Chirality and Biological Activity , New York, 1990. 

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