On June 6th, Prof. In Su KIM (School of Pharmacy) and his research team of SKKU said that they found a way to make compounds of pyridine and quinoline more easily with more cheaper price by using new reaction process.

Until today, Wittig synthetic reaction developed by Prof. Witig in 1952 was used in the field of organic synthesis and medicine production. However, it was limited to the formation of carbon-carbon double bond through reaction with carbonyl, and chemical reactivity was relatively low while multiple steps were required. There is also a method of utilizing expensive transition metals such as palladium and rhodium, but there is troublesome such as adding a process of removing metals.

‘The selective alkylation of pyridine and quinoline’ which is developed by the research team this time, uses a direct alkylation of carbon-hydrogen bonds present in pyridine and quinoline, unlike the traditional double bond formation reaction. Using the alkylation reaction that cuts off the carbon-hydrogen bond in the molecule, it is possible to synthesize a compound used in various medicines more simply and easily. It is the result of the research that found new reactivity of Wittig reagent which improved existing problems.

The findings of this research were published in the September issue of the journal Angewandte Chemie (IF = 12.102), a worldwide scientific journal that can provide a new milestone in drug synthesis processes. The research was supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT and National Research Foundation of Korea.