COVID‐19 into Chemical Science Perspective: Chemical Preventive Measures and Drug Development

Abstract

COVID‐19 facts and literature are discussed into chemical science intuition highlighting the direct role of chemistry to the ongoing global pandemic by covering structural identification of the virus, chemical preventive measures and development of drugs. We reviewed the four most promising repurposed drugs which are presently being investigated in mass clinical trials on COVID‐19 infected persons and synthetic routes of these drugs with their recent advancement. Chemical preventive measures such as soap water, hand sanitizer and disinfectant are the only available options in the arsenal to fight against COVID‐19, till an effective medicine or vaccine will be made available. As such the present review will focus on the mode of action of the major chemical preventives.

Functionalized Masks: Powerful Materials against COVID‐19 and Future Pandemics

“…The possible mechanisms for inactivation of SARS‐CoV‐2 by antiviral drugs, [ 38 ] disinfectants, [ 39 ] and various surfaces [ 34 , 40 , 41 ] have been reviewed already. Alcohols (ethanol and isopropanol) kill and inactivate the coronavirus via dissolving the virus lipid membrane, damaging its RNA strain, and denaturation of its proteins probably through disrupting the intramolecular H‐bondings.…”

“…Therefore, these surfactants can create strong interaction with lipids in the virus membrane and tear down the lipid membrane. [ 41 , 46 ] Overall, all the surfaces have been categorized into three groups including natural surfaces, artificial surfaces, and biomimetic surfaces. [ 34 , 40 , 41 ] Natural surfaces containing some natural herbs and natural extracts can damage the RNA of the virus, and also inhibit the construction of enzymes for virus replication.…”

“…[ 41 , 46 ] Overall, all the surfaces have been categorized into three groups including natural surfaces, artificial surfaces, and biomimetic surfaces. [ 34 , 40 , 41 ] Natural surfaces containing some natural herbs and natural extracts can damage the RNA of the virus, and also inhibit the construction of enzymes for virus replication. In the artificial surfaces, the inactivation mechanisms have been divided into three forms including direct disinfection, indirect disinfection, and receptor inactivation.…”

Bis-indolylation of aldehydes and ketones using silica-supported FeCl3: molecular docking studies of bisindoles by targeting SARS-CoV-2 main protease binding sites

“…Here, cysteine-145 acts as a common nucleophile and plays a major role in the proteolytic functioning of M pro . 35 Recently, Adhikari 36 and Sarma 37 independently reviewed the anti-SARS effect of some small molecules as 3CLpro inhibitors with their various binding modes of interactions to the target protein for potential remedy of corona virus. Structure-based drug discovery (SBDD) is becoming an essential tool in assisting fast and cost-efficient lead discovery and optimization.…”

The role of natural products from medicinal plants against COVID-19: traditional medicine practice in Tanzania

“…Nevertheless, in most cases the antiviral medications used to treat SARS and MERS are currently being commonly used to treat COVID-19 because their genomic sequence is strikingly similar to that of SARS-CoV-2. A number of antiviral drugs that show promising results and which are on-going examined in mass clinical trials on the patients of COVID-19 as recommended by WHO are Remdesivir, Lopinavir, Hydroxychloroquine, and Dexamethasone 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 . The dexamethasone has been mostly recommended to severely patients while hydroxychloroquine has been recommended commonly in case of asymptomatic patients especially those involved to care of suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 [ 6 ].…”