THE EVOLUTION OF IMMOBILIZED REAGENTS AND THEIR APPLICATION IN FLOW CHEMISTRY FOR THE SYNTHESIS OF NATURAL PRODUCTS AND PHARMACEUTICAL COMPOUNDS - Modern Tools for the Synthesis of Complex Bioactive Molecules - page 355

11
THE EVOLUTION OF
IMMOBILIZED REAGENTS
AND THEIR APPLICATION IN
FLOW CHEMISTRY FOR THE
SYNTHESIS OF NATURAL
PRODUCTS AND
PHARMACEUTICAL
COMPOUNDS

CHAPTER

REBECCA M. MYERS, KIMBERLEY A. ROPER,
IAN R. BAXENDALE, and STEVEN V. LEY
Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

11.1. BACKGROUND

Underpinning a healthy drug discovery and development programme is the ability
to prepare large numbers of structurally diverse molecules. Developing innovative
practical chemical techniques to achieve this goal has therefore become essential [1].
Indeed, the incorporation of new technologies for chemical synthesis is now common
place and encompasses automation [2], informatics [3], and robotic approaches [4],
alongwith the use of immobilized reagents and catch-and-release [5] strategies together
with microfluidic flow reactors [6] and focused microwave techniques [7].
Before discussing the recent evolution of flow chemistry methods, it is helpful
to review some of the concepts on which this technology platform is based. One
particularly important aspect of flow chemistry for multistep synthesis has been the
development of immobilized reagents, scavengers, and catch-and-release techniques.