• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Saturday, August 2, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Chemistry

New approach in the synthesis of complex natural substances

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
May 2, 2024
in Chemistry
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

They are found as fragrances in cosmetics or as flavorings in food, and form the basis of new medications: Terpenes are natural substances that occur in plants, insects and sea sponges. They are difficult to produce synthetically. However, chemists at the University of Basel are now introducing a new method of synthesis.

Diterpenes

Credit: University of Basel, O. Baudoin

They are found as fragrances in cosmetics or as flavorings in food, and form the basis of new medications: Terpenes are natural substances that occur in plants, insects and sea sponges. They are difficult to produce synthetically. However, chemists at the University of Basel are now introducing a new method of synthesis.

Many natural substances possess interesting characteristics, and can form the basis of new active compounds in medicine. Terpenes, for example, are a group of substances, some of which are already used in therapies against cancer, malaria or epilepsy.

There is an important prerequisite for their development into drugs, however: these terpenes should be produced synthetically from simple starting materials. This allows their exact molecular structure to be controlled, and targeted changes to be made to improve their properties.

New approach for total synthesis

Professor Olivier Baudoin and his doctoral student Oleksandr Vyhivskyi have now developed a new approach to the total synthesis of these substances and have used it to artificially produce two diterpenes – a subclass of terpenes: randainin D and barekoxide. Their report appears in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Randainin D, originally extracted from plants, inhibits production of an enzyme that plays a role in conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It might therefore be considered as a potential candidate for the development of new therapeutic agents.

The chemists have managed to synthesize randainin D in 17 steps. To this purpose, they employed both a chemical reaction called ring-closing metathesis and photocatalysis – a process in which chemical reactions are promoted by light energy.

Construction of complex structures

In this way, they succeeded in creating the complex ring structure of the molecule, as well as inserting a chemical building block called an allyl group, made up of three carbon atoms. An allyl group is a useful component in the synthesis of various organic substances, as it serves as a reaction partner during the construction of the desired structure.

Finally, the same synthesis method was used by the researchers to produce barekoxide. Although barekoxide had already been produced synthetically by another research group in 2010, Baudoin and Vyhivskyi’s approach has reduced the number of steps from ten to seven, thus significantly simplifying the total synthesis of this compound.

“Our results show the potential of photocatalysis for the total synthesis of complex terpenes. This could pave the way for the development of new medications,” concludes Baudoin.



Journal

Journal of the American Chemical Society

DOI

10.1021/jacs.4c02224

Article Title

Total Synthesis of the Diterpenes (+)-Randainin D and (+)- Barekoxide via Photoredox-Catalyzed Deoxygenative Allylation

Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Innovative Acid-Base Bifunctional Catalyst Enhances Production of Essential Lithium-Ion Battery Material

Innovative Acid-Base Bifunctional Catalyst Enhances Production of Essential Lithium-Ion Battery Material

August 1, 2025
Oven-Temperature Treatment (~300℃) Enhances Catalyst Performance by Six Times

Oven-Temperature Treatment (~300℃) Enhances Catalyst Performance by Six Times

August 1, 2025

5 Innovations Securing Water Sources and Ensuring Availability

August 1, 2025

Innovative Imaging Technique Reveals Elemental Distributions in Frozen Solvents within Nanomaterials

August 1, 2025

POPULAR NEWS

  • Blind to the Burn

    Overlooked Dangers: Debunking Common Myths About Skin Cancer Risk in the U.S.

    60 shares
    Share 24 Tweet 15
  • Dr. Miriam Merad Honored with French Knighthood for Groundbreaking Contributions to Science and Medicine

    46 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 12
  • Neuropsychiatric Risks Linked to COVID-19 Revealed

    39 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • Study Reveals Beta-HPV Directly Causes Skin Cancer in Immunocompromised Individuals

    38 shares
    Share 15 Tweet 10

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Unraveling EMT’s Role in Colorectal Cancer Spread

Gut γδ T17 Cells Drive Brain Inflammation via STING

Agent-Based Framework for Assessing Environmental Exposures

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.