Session Speaker

Combinatorial Chemistry for the Rapid Identification of Highly Active Compounds
Adel Nefzi
USA

Combinatorial chemistry is in broad terms a technology for creating molecules en masse and in formats that permit their testing rapidly for desirable properties. Compared with conventional “one-molecule-at-a-time” discovery strategies, combinatorial chemistry greatly enhances the discovery of new drugs, catalysts, and materials. The combinatorial efforts at our Institute over the past ten years have specifically focused on the synthesis of a large number of low molecular weight compounds. Early work has shown that such libraries can be used for the de novo identification of potent analgesics, highly active antimicrobial compounds and novel antitumor agents. These libraries represent chemical collections of low molecular weight heterocyclic and organic acyclic compounds. Examples of the identification of highly active compounds using combinatorial chemistry will be presented.