Total synthesis

Check out the nice and informative documentary on total synthesis entitled “Total synthesis-From chemistry to medicine”. This video was prepared by Professor Matt McIntosh and his students of chemistry department at the University of Arkansas. He himself is involved in the total synthesis of various biologically important natural compounds.

As Professor Matt McIntosh mentioned, total synthesis has very important role in the discovery of new medicine. Most of the clinically used medicines are derived from natural products. For e.g. Camptothecin, a well-known topoisomerase I inhibitor for cancer treatment is first isolated from the Camptotheca acuminata. It’s hard and almost impossible to scale up the production of biologically active compounds from the natural resources. To provide those compounds in large scale, preventing the natural resources, total synthesis is a good option.  At the same time, different analogues can be prepared to find out more potent compounds.

Looking forward to see the making of total synthesis (Phase II) from the group.

So, what do you think? Please leave your opinion.