Copper is not new to medicine, having been used in infection-fighting nanoparticles and implants, among many other innovations. However, it hasn’t quite been used in the way some chemists from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) have achieved, and it paves the way for simpler and much cheaper drug production in the future.
Using ozone, a form of oxygen, as a reagent and the metal as a catalyst, the scientists were able to break the carbon-carbon bonds of different types of organic molecules. The ozone broke the bonds into hydrocarbons called alkenes, and the copper catalyst coupled the broken bonds with nitrogen, forming carbon-nitrogen bonds, or molecules known as amines.
This process, known as aminodealkenylation, makes good use of an inexpensive metal that is in abundance, as opposed to other similar catalysts that would traditionally be used to develop amines.
"This has never been done before," said organic chemistry professor Ohyun Kwon. "Traditional metal catalysis uses expensive metals such as platinum, silver, gold and palladium, and other precious metals such as rhodium, ruthenium and iridium. But we are using oxygen and copper, one of the world's most abundant base metals."
Amines have strong interactions with molecules found in plants and animals, so are used heavily in the production of pharmaceuticals, plus agricultural chemicals like fertilizers. And, as their name suggests, amphetamine and dopamine are also amines.
Through this versatile combination, the team was able to modify hormones, pharmaceutical reagents, peptides and nucleosides into amines, indicating that this new method has broad application.
Though, for Kwon, its biggest drawcard may be the potential for far cheaper medicines. Where a chemical used in some anti-cancer drugs can cost pharmaceutical companies $3,200 per gram, the researchers managed to produce the same drug molecule using a chemical that cost around $3 per gram to produce.
The team produced the anti-cancer c-Jun N-terminal kinase inhibitor in three chemical steps, instead of the usual dozen it currently requires.
In another experiment, the method took one step to convert adenosine – a neurotransmitter and DNA building block that costs less than 10 cents per gram – into the N6-methyladenosine amine. This amine plays an important role in controlling gene expression in cells, disease processes and development. Currently, it costs around $103 per gram to produce.
With copper currently abundant and at less than $4 per pound, the scientists are hopeful this new protocol could open up a much more affordable market for a wide range of amine-based pharmaceuticals and other organic materials.
The research was published in the journal Science.
Source: UCLA
