Catalyst puts chiral twist on phosphorus drugs
Simple molecule overcomes headache of phosphorus stereochemistry in antiviral drug synthesis
A simple catalyst to tackle the problem of creating chiral phosphorus compounds has been designed by scientists at pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. They went on to use the catalyst to synthesise a promising new hepatitis C drug that is currently in trials and is one of a class of drugs that can cure the disease for most people. Protides such as the hepatitis C drug sofosbuvir (Sovaldi) are potent antivirals. Sofosbuvir cures up to 97% of patients with hepatitis C and is on the World Health Organization’s essential medicines list.