Aug. 15, 2011 Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have
devised a much easier technique for performing a chemical
modification used widely in the synthesis of drugs and other
products. Known as "trifluoromethylation," the modification adds
a CF3 molecule to the original compound, often making it more
stable -- and, for a drug, keeping it in the body longer. With
the new technique, chemists can perform this feat using a
relatively simple, safe, room-temperature procedure and can even
select the site of the modification on the target compound.
"I've been presenting this methodology at several pharma
companies, and there's a lot of interest -- so much so that
their chemists are starting to use it," said Scripps Research
Professor Phil S. Baran, senior author of the new study,
scheduled for publication the week of August 15, 2011, in an
advance online edition of the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences. Standard procedures for
trifluoromethylation involve gases and associated hardware, high
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