'Cut-to-fuse' strategy: A new route for molecular skeletal editing

edited by Swati Mestri , reviewed by Robert Egan

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Add as preferred source Researchers use a "cut-to-fuse" strategy, in which halogenation triggers bond cleavage and subsequent molecular reconstruction, converting hydroxycoumarins into valuable coumaranone scaffolds under mild conditions. Credit: Toshifumi Dohi from Ritsumeikan University, Japan Restructuring a molecule without rebuilding it from scratch is an increasingly important goal in modern organic chemistry. Skeletal editing is an approach that helps chemists explore new chemical structures and simplify the synthesis of molecules with potential pharmaceutical applications.

But in the case of functional groups such as esters, skeletal editing remains difficult because their carbon–carbon and carbon–oxygen bonds are resistant to cleavage under mild conditions.