A Look at the Importance of Chirality in Drug Activity: Some Significative Examples

Abstract

Chirality plays an important role in the development of many pharmaceuticals, being a general property of ‘handedness’; nevertheless, a large number of pharmaceuticals are still marketed and administered as racemates. Chirality is all around and even within us; indeed, receptors and enzymes are chiral entities and interact in a specific manner with chiral drugs. Consequently, controlling enantiomeric purity and isolating the enantiomers from chiral drugs remains a crucial subject for analytical, clinical, and regulatory purposes, thus, improving the drug safety profile. The classical examples of spontaneous enantiomerization and severe toxicity related to chirality are represented by ibuprofen and thalidomide, respectively, but numerous other cases have been reported in the literature. This review intends to offer a brief overview on the most common chiral drugs used in therapy for the treatment of various diseases.

One reaction – double stereoinduction: C–H activation as a privileged route towards complex atropisomeric molecules

“…With the expanding importance and quest for enantiopure molecules, asymmetric synthesis has been one of the most rapidly developing fields of organic synthesis. Indeed, while the end of the 20th century witnessed a growing interest in enantiopure drugs featuring improved reactivities, selectivities, and fewer side effects, 1 the beginning of the 21st century is clearly marked by the implementation of chirality in various fields of chemistry, including agrochemistry, material science, catalyst design, etc. 2 The expanding importance and applications of enantiopure molecules clearly translate into a need for more efficient and sustainable synthetic routes to prepare such compounds on one hand, and the design of original chiral scaffolds with appealing applications on the other.…”

Enantiomeric separation of ketoprofen using Frovatriptan as a chiral derivatizing reagent

“…In many instances, a drug compound can exist in multiple enantiomeric forms, each with distinct pharmacological properties encompassing variances in potency, effectiveness, toxicity, and metabolism [2, 3]. The increasing focus on producing single enantiomers reflects the recognition of the potential advantages stemming from comprehending and harnessing the unique characteristics of enantiomers in drug development and therapy [4]. Therefore, it is imperative to isolate and investigate each enantiomer separately to ascertain their individual attributes and impacts.…”

“…in drug development and therapy [4]. Therefore, it is imperative to isolate and investigate each enantiomer separately to ascertain their individual attributes and impacts.…”

Microwave Three-Wave Mixing Spectroscopy of Chiral Molecules in Weakly Bound Complexes

“…One example is that R -carvone smells like spearmint to humans, whereas S -carvone smells like caraway seeds . This difference in interactions can also result in a stereoselective bias to chiral drug molecules, which comprise >50% of the drugs on the market today, as chiral receptor sites in biological systems like human bodies recognize enantiomers as different molecules and bind with only the one that has the proper absolute structural configuration . As such, new chiral drugs are designed to be enantioenriched, and asymmetric synthesis and enantiomeric purification have become significant topics in the modern chemistry and pharmaceutical industries.…”