Molecular Strategies for the Synthesis of Drug-Like Bioactives
A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Medicinal Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 16 December 2025 | Viewed by 9
Special Issue Editors
Interests: drug design; synthesis and characterization of molecules; medicinal chemistry; NCX isoform modulators; H2S donors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: medicinal chemistry; synthetic chemistry; advanced synthesis methodologies; NCX modulators; bioactive peptides; multitarget ligands
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue focuses on innovative molecular strategies driving the synthesis of drug-like bioactive compounds. The growing demand for novel therapeutic agents is paralleled by an increasing need to ensure that the synthetic procedures used in their development are environmentally responsible, efficient, and sustainable. Balancing molecular complexity and biological efficacy with scalability and ecological impact is a key challenge in modern medicinal chemistry.
This Issue aims to highlight recent advances in synthetic methodologies, including structure-guided synthesis, target-oriented and diversity-oriented strategies, biocatalysis, and green chemistry approaches that facilitate the creation of biologically relevant molecules.
We particularly welcome research articles and reviews that explore advanced synthetic tactics for the rational design of small molecules with drug-like properties—such as optimal solubility, permeability, metabolic stability, and target selectivity. Special emphasis is placed on contributions addressing multitarget approaches and the synthesis of emerging therapeutic modalities, including PROTACs (proteolysis-targeting chimeras) and molecular glues. Studies focusing on scaffold design, linker optimization, selective and late-stage functionalization that enable these strategies are highly encouraged.
By gathering diverse perspectives and cutting-edge research, this Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive overview of how modern synthetic chemistry is shaping the discovery and development of next-generation therapeutics.
Prof. Dr. Beatrice Severino
Guest Editor
Dr. Antonia Scognamiglio
Guest Editor Assistant
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- drug-like bioactives
- synthetic methodologies
- green chemistry
- multitarget ligands
- PROTACs
- molecular glues
- biocatalysis
- scaffold design
- late-stage functionalization
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