Combinatorial chemistry solid-phase parallel synthesis

Combinatorial chemistry and parallel synthesis are now the dominant methods of compound synthesis at the lead discovery stage [2]. The method of chemistry synthesis is important because it dictates compound physical form and therefore compound aqueous solubility. As the volume of chemistry synthetic output increases due to combinatorial chemistry and parallel synthesis, there is an increasing probability that resultant chemistry physical form will be amorphous or a neat material of indeterminate solid appearance. There are two major styles of combinatorial chemistry - solid-phase and solution-phase synthesis. There is some uncertainty as to the true relative contribution of each method to chemistry output in the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry. Published reviews of combinatorial library synthesis suggest that solid-phase synthesis is currently the dominant style contributing to about 80% of combinatorial libraries [3]. In solid-phase synthesis the mode of synthesis dictates that relatively small quantitities of compounds are made. 

The discovery of this lead compound as a potent PDF inhibitor was a result of an integrated combinatorial and medicinal chemistry approach based on the proposed generic PDF inhibitor structure. This focused chemical library was designed by Chen et al. [79], and was prepared using solid-phase parallel synthesis in which 22 amines and 24 amino acids were used as building blocks, as outlined in Scheme 23. 

Solid-phase combinatorial synthesis can be performed using the split-and-pool technique based on the combination of variously substituted compounds together for the same reaction in an appropriate reaction step, as well as by parallel synthesis, in which all compounds are segregated during all the reaction steps (see next chapters). Although parallel synthesis is an efficient way to prepare arrays of structurally unrelated compounds, it is not necessarily a combinatorial approach conventionally based on substituent modifications of one structural motif. Thus, combinatorial chemistry is not parallel synthesis, albeit combinatorial chemistry can be performed in parallel fashion. 

Modern combinatorial chemistry involves a number of steps that begin with the creation of a library of molecules that are closely related in structure. The library can be created in two ways (a) parallel synthesis, which is simultaneous synthesis of numerous products in separate discrete reaction vessels (b) combinatorial synthesis, of numerous reactions within one single reaction vessel followed by separations. The initial successes in parallel synthesis have been in solid peptide synthesis of proteins, which was based on Merrifield s solid-phase peptide synthesis. 

The field of combinatorial chemistry covers a wide range of interdependent concepts and techniques as diverse as solid-phase synthesis, supported reagents, parallel homogeneous-phase chemistry, solid-phase extractions and adapted analytical methods. They were designed and developed both to address specific problems, libraries synthesis, and to help chemists in their everyday work. 

Parallel to these developments in solid-phase synthesis and combinatorial chemistry, microwave-enhanced organic synthesis has attracted much attention in recent years. As is evident from the other chapters in this book and the comprehensive reviews available on this subject [5, 6], high-speed microwave-assisted synthesis has been applied successfully in many fields of synthetic organic chemistry. Any technique which can speed the process of rather time-consuming solid-phase synthesis is of substantial interest, particularly in research laboratories involved in high-throughput synthesis. 

The major impetus for the development of solid phase synthesis centers around applications in combinatorial chemistry. The notion that new drug leads and catalysts can be discovered in a high tiuoughput fashion has been demonstrated many times over as is evidenced from the number of publications that have arisen (see references at the end of this chapter). A number of )proaches to combinatorial chemistry exist. These include the split-mix method, serial techniques and parallel methods to generate libraries of compounds. The advances in combinatorial chemistry are also accompani by sophisticated methods in deconvolution and identification of compounds from libraries. In a number of cases, innovative hardware and software has been developed tor these purposes. 

Tietze and coworkers developed two new domino approaches in the field of combinatorial chemistry, which are of interest for the synthesis of bioactive compounds. Combinatorial chemistry can be performed either on solid phase or in solution using parallel synthesis. The former approach has the advantage that purification of the products is simple and an excess of reagents can be used. This is not possible for reactions in solution, but on the other hand all known transformations can be used. The Tietze group has now developed a protocol which combines the... 

Abstract. The direct scale-up of a solid-phase synthesis has been demonstrated with 4-(2-amino-6-phenylpyrimidin-4-yl)benzamide and an arylsulfonamido-substituted hydroxamic acid derivative as examples. These compounds were obtained through combinatorial chemistry and solution-phase synthesis was used in parallel to provide a comparison. By applying highly loaded polystyrene-derived resins as the solid support, a good ratio between the product and the starting resin is achieved. We have demonstrated that the synthesis can be scaled up directly on the solid support, successfully providing the desired compounds easily and quickly in sufficient quantities for early development demands. 

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