Diversity-Oriented Synthesis: Molecule Diversity by Design

Dear Colleagues,

One of the characteristics of chemistry is the ability to create new molecules with specifically designed properties for a given application which could be anything from a new drug to a sophisticated electronic material. In many cases, whilst the basic required structure is known, the precise optimal substitution pattern cannot be determined in advance and so it becomes necessary to synthesise a collection of related compounds built around a common framework or template. Often, many parameters and structural variations have to be considered and this leads to the requirement for high molecular diversity. To meet this need, especially for biological applications, diversity-oriented synthesis has been developed. It is a strategic approach that uses reliable, well-documented reactions, or newly developed reactions in a sequence that leads not to a single target molecule but to many related compounds in expanding numbers at each synthetic step. Diversity-oriented synthesis has been conspicuously successful in advancing many projects, most notably in drug discovery, and is now a standard and powerful approach to discover highly functional molecules.

Prof. Dr. Colin J. Suckling
Guest Editor