Synthesis of Natural Products and Drug Active Molecules

Dear Colleagues,

Due to their properties, natural compounds have been used for centuries to relieve pain in all kinds of diseases or to treat other ailments. In the past, they were usually used in the form of infusions, extracts or distillates, i.e., complex mixtures. Only the development of analytical methods made it possible to determine their chemical compositions in detail. The discovery of the structures of individual molecules responsible for given biological properties created the possibility to reproduce these compounds in a chemical laboratory. This was possible due to the development of appropriate methods of organic synthesis. In this way, it became possible to use molecules that occur in nature in limited amounts in medical therapies. The next step was to obtain a series of derivatives with a skeleton similar to naturally occurring molecules, but with different functional groups or alkyl substituents, which allowed one to "turn up" their biological properties and use them as drugs. However, the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries are now turning their attention back to natural compounds that were previously unknown or considered uninteresting. For a long time, research has overlooked the synergistic or antagonistic aspects of their action. Another challenge is the growing resistance of many microorganisms to the drugs used to date, which is resulting in the need to continue searching for new effective molecules among natural compounds. The current trend that perfectly fits into the assumptions of Green Chemistry is the use of biotechnological methods to transform biologically active molecules. Both microorganisms in the form of whole cultures or individual enzymes as well as the enzyme systems of higher plants are used here.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to collect original scientific articles, communications and reviews on all aspects of the methodology used to obtain biologically active compounds. Mainly, we want to focus on the presentation of new organic synthesis protocols using biotechnological methods. Research into the improvement of existing methods in the field of catalytic or multi-component synthesis is also welcome. In addition, the issue may include meta-analyses and articles using bioinformatics tools in drug design.

Dr. Wanda Mączka
Dr. Katarzyna Wińska
Dr. Anna Pawełczyk
Guest Editors

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• organic synthesis
• green chemistry
• stereoselective synthesis
• biocatalysis
• retrosynthesis
• environmentally friendly processes
• sustainable chemistry
• drug discovery
• structure–activity relationships
• mechanisms of action