Semiconductor Photoredox Catalysis to Engineering Deuterated N-Alkyl Pharmaceuticals
Chenliang Su describes the photoredox-catalyzed engineering of deuterated N-alkyl pharmaceuticals.
‘Deuterium switch’ in therapeutic molecules is widely used to study and alter the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of pharmaceuticals. In 2017, the first deuterium-labeled drug, deutetrabenazine, was approved by the FDA, ushering a new era of deuterated clinical drug development. According to Professor Chenliang Su from Shenzhen University (P. R. of China) “over 50% of the top-selling drugs contain N-alkyl amine units and N-dealkylation by cytochrome P450 (CYP450) is a very common metabolic pathway in such N-alkyl drugs. Thus, deuterium substitution of N-alkyl groups in N-alkyl drug molecules could impact their pharmacodynamic properties by slowing down the N–C bond cleavage. In this regard, the precision syn thesis of drug analogues with deuterated N-alkyl amine units holds great promise but is still a challenging endeavor from the chemistry viewpoint.”
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